


Maria's angels

by LadyMorgan



Category: Supernatural, Supernatural Novels - Various
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Destiel - Freeform, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-05-15 17:01:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 28
Words: 60,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14794451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMorgan/pseuds/LadyMorgan
Summary: Part 1 --- General AudiencesMaria did not have it easy in her job. And then the rescue help came at just the right moment.Pairing: Gabriel/OC                ... supporting roles: Dean and JodyPart 2 --- Explicit ... because of violence, sex.Cas had finally found someone with whom he could have imagined a life, but Dean had a dark secret.Pairing: Dean Winchester/Castiel               ... supporting roles: Gabriel/OC, Lucifer, Donna, Chuck, Jody





	1. Chapter 1

 

Maria blinked and partly nervously and partly annoyed she drummed on her steering wheel, because a column of cars came towards her. A look at the clock told her that it was already two minutes to eleven o'clock and she was therefore late.

She let the engine roar and turned towards the lake, passed the first restaurant and looked to the right. Her boss's car was not in the driveway. That meant, he was either already in the other restaurant, or let her wait again.

After four years, she still had no key, as she always heard the words from her boss, she had to marry him first.

_‚Yeah right, you can wait there until you turn black and crumble to dust‘_

She giggled at the thought and turned into the parking lot.

Of course, her boss's car was not there.

That's how she set about setting up the sunshades in the outdoor dining area.

It was a wonderful early summer day and it already felt like 30 ° C.

She already discovered some regulars and waved to them happily. It was Tuesday and most were at work, but the pensioners always showed up.

Maria had fun working on the lake. Otherwise, she would not be there for the fourth year. Even though her boss still thought that he knew everything better, she was her own master in the kitchen, and the response of the guests showed her that she did not do that badly either.

She picked up her cell phone and sat down on one of the wooden benches, because her boss was already ten minutes overdue. How could it be otherwise, one of the old men came over and began to talk. Still, it was this horndog, on the Maria had no nerve anyway.

But she was friendly, because usually that was her style.

At last she heard her boss's car and after a stupid saying, if she had a new admirer, she finally got into the kitchen. Although, kitchen could not really be said.

The building was a big snack stall. It consisted of a large room, well divided.

Three huge windows that could be closed with shutters divided the different areas. One for the ice edition. One for the beverage edition and orders and one for the food distribution.

She then set to work on the garden, consisting of 18 wooden tables, and was just starting to prepare for the day, because the day before there was so much going on and after a 13-hour day, she had no nerves anymore to do it all.

 

"Popsicle order, write together what we need," said her boss.

Rolling her eyes she went to the icebox and shook her head.

"Did not you say yesterday, we do not order anything, where should I put it all away?"

"In the other restaurant they also need a few varieties and holiday is on Thursday."

Popsicle order. That was one of his favorite things. Even if Maria briefly thought about it and knew that at least 600 pieces of ice cream of different sorts were still present.

It could be that until Friday, until the next delivery, these 600 ice cream would be too little. But she bravely picked up the note and wrote down six more boxes, knowing that if her boss took that into his own hands, he would order more.

Lack of space did not really exist, because Maria was not stupid either.

In the other restaurant, in the basement, there was an unused freezer and it was not the first time that she, without losing many words, loaded the boxes into her car and brought them to the other place.

Although she was the one who always had to go back and forth and pick up the used one, she was tired of arguing. Not after four years.

Maria was in the garden and heard her boss talking on the phone. And as with any phone conversation with any supplier, she became aware.

Because her boss unfortunately tended to always exaggerate.

Be it the pet bottles with a variety of drinks, of which more than 1,000 were already stored in the snack bar, or food ...

Maria could not understand it because her boss could always order or go shopping.

There was no need to stock so much of everything that sooner or later the drinks had an expiration date. Or that the food had to be frozen again before it expired.

Yes, she was aware that working on the lake was a risk.

When the weather was nice, the business boomed. But the weather could quickly change again and it followed a few days, where nothing was going on. For the first two years she had tried, talked, discussed, asked to do it differently, and he understood it. Until the next day. Then he did what he wanted again. By now she had given up.

She had no nerves to argue with him, and in her mind she had decided anyway that this would be her last season.

The work was fun. Nevertheless, there were already so many things that went against Mary's bottom line. And this was not due to the guests.

The second reason was that Mary realized that her boss had had a crush on her.

And she does not. That would never happen. Not even if he was the last man in the world.

Again and again little accidental touches that chased a chill down her spine rather than a warm feeling in the heart.

Again and again the question, whether after work and after this restaurant was locked, she would still go with him to the other place to drink something else.

Again and again the same stories, just so she listened to him and talked to him.

Maria was annoyed by it now and therefore her decision was firm.

"Please write me what we need, I'm going shopping, there's nothing going on anyway," he yelled into the garden.

 

Maria stopped and frowned.

_‚You can not be serious! Nothing going on? Open your eyes! You will not leave me alone again. Not over lunchtime!‘_

It was not the first time he had left Mary alone.

On the one hand, of course, it was nice that he trusted her so much. But she also knew that it was not honey licking. To cook, to pour the drinks, to sell the ice cream and to collect the money. Next to tidy up and wash the dishes.

But what should she do? If her boss had something in his head, then he did that too. Be it that he went around the lake to see if the other innkeepers had more consuming guests. Whether he drove up to the other restaurant and talked to the guests there. "Call me if there's anything," he always told her.

Of course, she had rarely called, because until he would have been back, the spook would have been over. On the one hand, so she could show him she could do it on her own. On the other hand, so that she could make him a bit guilty.

Maria was angry. But also glad that he was gone. Meanwhile, she worked the eighth day at a stretch and longed for a day without her boss, or at least a few hours. To come down again.

Because she often had the feeling that she would otherwise have to kill him with the meat tenderizer.

 

Not far away, a woman and two men got out of the water, breathing heavily.

The smaller of the three leaned groaning against the tree to catch his breath, before he knelt down and let the oxygen bottle slide to the ground.

"Open the zipper," he called impatiently.

"You can hardly wait, Gabriel," Dean teased and Jody chuckled.

"Very funny," replied Gabe meekly and became a little red.

"Four years you already have hearts in your eyes and look at her from afar, when do you find your balls to talk to her?" Jody laughed and peeled off her diving suit.

"Is it so obvious?" The dark blonde muttered sheepishly.

"Yes that's it. You're a coward," Dean said seriously, before the other two burst out laughing.

"You're stupid!" Gabriel grumbled as he put on his T-shirt. "Probably she has a boyfriend anyway, or is married."

"You always have such good ears, just say you did not hear that last time," Jody replied.

"What?!"

"You already know. Last Tuesday in the garden. She closed the sunshade and this one, who had eaten a schnitzel called to Maria, if she was still available."

"I agree. She answered that she was still available but did not want to change anything about that condition. And that she would only accept men outpatient, but not stationary," Dean finished Jody's sentence.

"Right. She does not want a man," Gabriel muttered.

He was a burnt child. Since his marriage broke up five years ago, he really did not want to know about women anymore. He had some acquaintances whom he had met on various raids with his two friends, but it was never anything more serious.

Gabriel also worked in the hospitality industry and was pretty busy, but the Tuesdays were sacred to him. Since he could pursue his hobby. And that was fun for him.

It was the same procedure every week. He went diving with his two friends, then lunch, then dive again, then a little laze in the sun, in the evening for a drink or two and then home. But alone.

It was not just the good food that drew him to this place, but also Mary.

She was always in a good mood and had a smile for everyone.

"Are you finished with your thoughts? Can we go then? My stomach growls," Dean grumbled, pulling Gabriel out of his daydreams.

"Looks like it's already going there like a train," Jody chuckled as she approached the people who came to order.


	2. Chapter 2

"Well, hopefully it will stay that way," Maria murmured to herself and cut the lettuce down.

But the next moment the first two guests approached.

"Oh, let me finish it," she groaned in a low voice, and called to one of the windows. "I'll be right there!"

"Do not worry," the older lady smirked and Maria put down the knife, wiped her hands on the apron and greeted them both friendly.

"Are you alone?" Her husband asked.

"The boss went shopping," Maria muttered and pressed the button on the machine for the beverage outlet.

A quarter of an hour and some food later she had a glorious idea, because she saw that many regulars were traveling. When she had a short breath, she flitted out and wrote a dish of the day on one of the plates. They called this the ‚diversion maneuver‘.

Cheaper than it was in the card, it should attract the guests.

Some times this plan came up, sometimes not. But honestly, Maria was not keen to prepare chicken cordon bleu and fish because it took so long.

Maria opted for a cheese kransky with potato salad.

She ran quickly back into the snack, because again people were standing, then called them to come immediately, turned on the grill and stood again at the window.

"Hello, what do you want?" She smirked, a little out of breath.

The distraction had not quite worked out, because people preferred to eat a salad with chicken breast strips and a schnitzel. No problem. Maria flitted from one end to the other and already saw people standing by the ice.

Quickly she sold the children the desired, rushed to the deep fryer, so that the fries were not black and ten seconds later poured the next beer.

When she glanced outside, she suddenly started to panic.

Eight people at a time came up to her and three more meals were to be done.

"Can I have a cake for my coffee?" Someone called from the garden.

The next one wanted an iced coffee.

 

Maria took three seconds and thought feverishly about what she should do now. She was swimming. Not quite yet, but at the latest when the others all wanted something to eat.

The boss came at the earliest in an hour. If he was stuck in traffic, only in ... no idea.

Maria had only two hands and people were standing at all three windows.

In her mind, she cursed her boss not twice but ten times.

Without further ado, Maria picked up the cell phone and dialed the number from her boss's mother, who was in the second restaurant with a cook.

"With me, red alert," she said frantically, pouring coffee and apple juice, can you spare Oliver half an hour, I do not know what to do?!"

Partly desperate, partly angry, she threw her cell phone aside, as the cook in the other restaurant was also busy. Looking for help, she looked out of the window and stared for a moment too long into the eyes of her secret swarm. She had a crush on the Dark Blond for a long time, but did not have the time to think about it.

"Damn," she groaned, collecting the money and rushing to the grill the next.

Quickly she set up the two cheese kransky, placed them on the wide window sill and shouted to the two guests that their food was ready.

"A trout and a char. Before that, a soup with strips of pancake. A schnitzel and a cheese kransky and two orange juice with water, a spritzer and a beer."

And of course, the beer went out and Maria had to strike a new barrel.

_‚Do not panic‘,_ Maria reminded herself.

"Can I have one with almonds?" Came from the window of the ice cream dispenser.

"Where is your boss?"

"If the men do not volunteer to stay with me, I do not force them," Maria replied boldly.

"But it's a mess if he leaves you alone here."

Shrugging, Maria put the drinks in front of the people and cashed.

"At least I'll get a little tip," she laughed.

"Is not that split?" A regular asked.

Maria shook her head but warned him not to say that. Maria would otherwise come in the devil's kitchen.

Yes, that was also a point that annoyed her enormously. Her boss bagged the entire tip.

But you either made the profession of cooking out of love, or you left it. Because more than a, ‚it was good‘, you usually did not get. The pay for this job was bad. That was fact.

"What's going fast?"

Again one of those impatient guests. She rolled her eyes annoyed.

"Currently nothing. I have only two hands and they are currently busy with the drinks."

How she would have liked to tell him to go where the pepper grows, but she bit her tongue and concentrated on the work.

If people had time to spend a day at the lake, they also had time to wait a bit. But the pensioners were always the worst.

"Ok folks," Maria called to the guests. "I apologize when the food lasts longer, but I only have two hands."

No one was angry, everyone understood it. The guests were even so nice and brought the dishes to the windowsill, so that Maria at least did not have to go out to clean up.

Maria tried not to say what was going through her mind because she was afraid that the guests would make an announcement to her boss and Maria would be the stupid again.

The three divers were the next.

"Do you have stress?" Dean asked. "What can you recommend?"

"Another place," Maria smirked. "No …  joke. But do you know what I would like to do now? I would like to go to the fuse box and then press the three buttons.

Then these three shutters will go down and I'll make my escape."

"Ok, then I get ..."

"Crap! I'll be right back!"

Maria scurried back to the stove to keep her food from burning.

She took a brief second, for the tears of anger and despair were in her eyes. She did not know what, where, when. Maria would have needed two more hands. Had forgotten to write down half, so that her boss then everything could subscribe to the computer.

 

Since everything was open, Gabriel saw how desperate Maria was and she was incredibly sorry for him and so he made a decision and walked around the building, to come a few moments later to the back door in the snack.

"Tell me what to do."

Maria could not do more than a 'thank you' and two tears of relief ran down her cheeks.

The next half hour the two were busy. She did not need to explain anything to him.

When Gabriel was not in the process of pouring the drinks, distributing the popsicles, or collecting the money, he helped her with the meals or washed the dishes.

All the guests were satisfied, praising Maria and scolding her boss. That did not matter to Maria, because now she had time to think.

 

Every Tuesday, she waited for the moment when she could see him again.

Cursed her boss when he released her that day and was happy when she could work.

She had not exchanged many words with him, but always tried to be as often as possible at those times in the garden, if only to wipe tables.

Maria did not even know his name, but now had the opportunity and took heart.

"I do not even know your name."

Gabriel put the plates in the sink and turned to face her.

Maria looked into his golden eyes and her heart beat faster.

"Gabriel ... they call me Gabriel", he smirked and shook her hand.

"Thank you, Gabe. You saved my ass," Maria replied with a smile.

 

It was just a quick little touch, but the butterflies in his stomach started to flutter. From Maria's dark red hair, which she had put on a braid, a few strands hung in her face and her navy blue T-shirt showed some dark sweaty spots, but still she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Maria had completely twisted his head and he just stared at her for a few moments.

Until her smile faded as she heard her boss's car drive up.

 

"What's he doing here?" He asked in surprise and threw a sack of fries on the sideboard.

Maria was hopping mad and would have preferred to throw her knife at him.

"He," she said, looking her boss straight in the eye. "His name is Gabriel. And he helped me out of the shit. If he had not been, I would have shut the roller shutters and left.

I never want to experience something like this again, otherwise ..."

Maria left the sentence open, but her boss knew what she meant by that.

"The least you can do is give him something to eat and drink."

 

Gabriel thought it better to get out of the kitchen because the air was crackling.

"Hey," Jody called as he sat down at the table, "strong performance. She will love you for that."

"Oh stop it, I did not do it for that", he replied and blushed.

"Of course not, Casanova," Dean snorted and the two giggled.


	3. Chapter 3

"Why did not you call Oliver?" Her boss asked as they unloaded the car.

"I have. He had no time."

"You can not leave the money to strangers."

It was not that Maria had allowed Gabriel to help her. She knew that. It was the fact that her boss was jealous of Gabriel.

"There are a few ways we can do that in the future."

At that moment, Maria did not care if he was her boss or not.

She was aware that she was indispensable. Because if she left, he could lock up both restaurants. The cook in the other restaurant had only been employed for two weeks, after a long search. If he had to go back and forth between the two restaurants, as good-natured Maria had always done.

It would only be a matter of time before he disappeared. Because finding staff was more than difficult in this day and age. And finding good, reliable, honest and loyal staff was doubly difficult. Because nobody did what Maria did. She was there with body and soul and that, since the beginning.

She had helped to build these two premises, she was always there when and where she was needed. She was often in both places at the same time and a few times a day and had never complained.

 

And Maria knew that her boss knew it too.

"First. You will not leave me alone in such a weather. Secondly. There will be nothing to eat, only drinks and popsicles. Third. I close. Fourth. If anyone of our guests agrees to help me, then you're glad and will thank him instead of yelling at him!"

Maria had never talked to her boss like that before, but judging from his reaction, this announcement was justified.

 

Of course, Gabriel and the other two got the conversation. First, because Maria was loud enough and second, because they sat close enough to the window.

She went out into the garden to collect the remaining dishes and to come down a bit again. But even that was not easy for Maria. After all, there were not only nice guests. There was an older couple who had an incident on Sunday a week ago. But before Maria became aware of this, it was too late.

She, estimated 330lb and hair on her teeth. Her husband, a dash in the landscape and absolutely obedient. "The ‚Berner‘ (two fried sausages filled with cheese and wrapped in bacon) from Sunday ...", she began.

"Gerlinde, please not now", Maria said calmly and returned to her work.

Yes, it was Maria's fault. Partly ...

On the said Sunday was a diving tournament with an estimated 200 divers.

And some of course came for lunch. And of course it was the same as always, because when there was already a lot going on, more guests came.

In one fell swoop Maria had the refrigerator door full of bons and at one go 25 different dishes to cook. It can happen that something goes wrong, because Maria was only human.

Among other things, Berner was ordered twice, once for her husband Fred, and the second time for another guest, who had ordered later.

If it was possible, Maria was always eager to prepare these meals, ... in which case the sausages for him and a breaded chicken schnitzel for Gerlinde ... together, so that the two could eat together.

It was self-service. That meant ... Maria made the food, put it on the food counter and yelled into the garden before turning back to the other dishes.

The chicken schnitzel was ready. Gerlinde picked it up. The Berner were finished.

The other guest apparently picked it up. Neither her boss, nor Maria had time to see who picked up what food. She did the bons in order. Gerlinde came to the window and asked where the sausages remained. Maria threw the Berner sausage on the grill. For the fact that the other guest, who had ordered later, was hasty ... But Maria could do nothing.

Peter, the temporary help, was in the garden cleaning up the dishes. Not five minutes later Gerlinde pulled him aside and said that her husband had not yet received his Berner sausage. Peter came to the window and asked. Not only was Maria in stress, she was also angry because that stupid cow just could not wait.

"Stand still," she called to Peter, threw the fries on the plate and put the Berner on it.

From one of the two sausages loosened the bacon, but neither Maria had the nerves, nor the time to make new.

Why? Now the bacon was not wrapped around it, but lay like a blanket over the sausage.

Maria gave Peter the plate and motioned for him to disappear.

Were not the perfect Berner, but Maria did not care at the moment.

Since Peter was busy selling ice cream and Maria did not have time, her boss went to clear the garden. Annoyed, he came back a few moments later and told Maria that in the Berner from Fred apparently no cheese was inside and they had not tasted.

The times when the cook made these sausages himself were long gone. They were ready to buy. Maria could not help it. But Gerlinde of course complained. And complained and complained and stopped complaining no more.

To make amends, she got two booze from her boss.

A week and two days had passed since that incident and even if they greeted warmly when they passed by, they did not eat anymore.

"I prefer, they are not coming anymore. Nobody needs such people. Make only whirl and unrest where nothing is," her boss said to Maria at that time.

 

Until this Tuesday. The two meals she had made were fine, Maria knew that, but Gerlinde still complained about this damned Berner sausage.

Her husband was silent and ducked. Probably thought to himself, prefer not to talk against it.

_‚What does he find attractive about that person?‘_

Maria shook her head inwardly at the thought.

"Gerlinde, please tell me that in two hours."

The woman with hair on her teeth but did not think to forget this incident so easily. It was not even her fucking food.

Maria struggled with herself. She wanted to take the fork and poke it right between her eyes just to stop her talking. Her hands trembled, her voice shaking as she began to speak softly but firmly.

"You've been our regulars for four years and come by at least twice a week.

You've seen me rip my ass this Sunday. The garden was full.

For the fact that someone else took this damned Berner, because you were too slow, I can not do anything. In my twenty years as a cook no guest has complained because apparently no cheese was in the sausage.

I can pick the company out of the internet, then you can write a complaint there. The only thing you can complain about, or rather, your husband, is the fact that the bacon was not wrapped around the sausage. What really can not be the topic right now. Because then I would not know if I should laugh at you. "Maria looked at her sharply because she wanted to protest.

"Something can go wrong, I'm a human. If you're waiting for an apology from me, you can wait until you're blue in the face. Because I do not know what to apologize for.

Your husband should stay with his damn cheese kransky again in the future, because there's 100% cheese inside and now I'm leaving before anything slips out that I could regret."

Maria maybe took three breaths in this conversation and Gerlinde's mouth was open.

Just like Dean, Jody and Gabriel. Maria regretted that Gabe had to listen to this, but if someone provoked Maria for so long, then she could not get out of her skin either.

But Gabriel was pleasantly surprised. He liked a woman who knew what she wanted and sometimes said her opinion.

And Maria's boss had overheard the conversation from the window and threw her an appreciative look, but Maria replied coldly.

 

Murphys Law. Of course, the hustle and bustle was over and there was nothing going on for the whole afternoon.

Thanks to God, regulars came again and again, and her boss retreated into the garden.

"Are you sad?" He asked and Maria wanted to pour the cleaning water into his face.

"No," she replied curtly.

"At lunch today, you were definitely angry," he continued hypocritically.

Maria wanted to mix still corrosive degreaser in the cleaning water and then pour it in his face.

"I did not have time for that," she replied harshly.

Her boss did not stop and started babbling again.

About the weather, about the repairs on his car, about the price increase for different things.

Maria wanted to mix the whole thing with boiling water and pour it into his face.

"I'm going to smoke a cigarette," she said and went outside.

 

Leaning against the car, she thought about the day.

She did not notice when someone approached and startled as that someone leaned against the car next to her.

If it had been someone else, perhaps Maria would have mocked him, but when she looked into Gabriel's radiant face, all the grief, the worries, and the anger had been wiped away.

"Are you alright?" He asked and Maria nodded.

"It was just a bit shitty day."

"I do not think so," he replied and lowered his eyes sheepishly.

Maria looked him over from the side. Gabriel was a handsome man. With his longer, dark blond hair. He was about the size of her and had a sexy physique.

Several times she could already admire him without a shirt and those strong arms ... she was sure he could carry her with ease.

"You saved me today, thanks again."

"Not for that ... anytime again."

"I do not think my boss will leave me alone so quickly," Maria chuckled and he laughed. "I should go back in."

Gabriel nodded and she stifles her cigarette.

"See you," he called after her and Maria turned around smiling.

It was not long before Gabriel stood at the window and studied the card with the different types of ice cream. It rarely happened that her boss took over. But stopped when Maria gave him a look and went to Gabriel. Her boss took a few steps back but watched everything.

"Hmm ..."

"19 different varieties. Too much choice?" Maria grinned.

"What's your favorite popsicle?"

"Milka."

"Two Milka."

Maria frowned because she did not see any of the other two, put the two things on the board and cashed.

Gabriel took one and winked at her before he went into the garden.

"For you."

She watched him with a smile, put it back in the freezer to eat later.

In peace. Then when she went home. Where she could think of him.

"Do you have a new admirer?" Her boss asked and Maria shrugged before getting back to work.

 

It was already dawn and there were only Dean, Jody and Gabriel in the garden.

"If you have everything ready, then you can go home," her boss said suddenly.

"What?"

It may have occurred twice in half a year that he sent her home earlier, because normally she always stayed until he turned the key in the lock.

She had not expected that and looked out into the garden and saw that Gabriel was on his way to the outhouse, where the toilet was.

_,You asshole. That was planned!‘_

Maria was annoyed that she could not say goodbye to Gabriel. But she did not want to wait another week. On a small piece of paper she wrote her phone number and went to the other two.

There she changed the ashtray and put the note on the table with the request to give it to Gabriel.

That her boss watched everything with eagle eyes, Maria did not escape. It did not take ten minutes and her phone rang.

"Hey."

"Hey. Where are you?"

"On the way home."

"Ok, I'll contact you when I'm home too. I will not pay your punishment if you are stopped," he said cheekily and hung up.

Maria sat on her couch ten minutes later, staring at the phone. She had not been so nervous about a man in a while. Another ten minutes later, her cell phone finally rang.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Then there was silence for a moment.

"What are you doing now?"

"I'm standing in my winter garden and see the lights of the ‚Pöstlingberg‘ in the distance."

"Hmm ... I can see that too."

"The billboard of ‚Hofer‘."

"Yepp."

"The highway."

"Me too."

"The shield of ‚McDonalds‘ and ‚Burger King‘."

"I see that too."

Maria was startled at these words.

"Where do you live?"

"‚Urfahr‘," he answered.

"‚Urfahr‘ is large."

"Near ‚Freistätterstraße‘."

"‚Feistätterstraße‘ is long."

"‚Kartouschweg‘."

"Repeat that," replied Maria.

"‚Kartouschweg‘."

"Number?"

"5."

"Open your window!" Maria laughed.

That could not be true. Maria grabbed a flashlight and blinked SOS.

It was not long before the hoped-for signal came and she could not believe that he lived in the building opposite.

"Come out," he chuckled, and out of sheer excitement, Maria almost left her key in the apartment.

After both had laughed at being neighbors, he took her hand and winked at her.

"To me or to you?"

 


	4. Chapter 4

Exuberantly, Maria dropped the door of her apartment into the door lock and flitted down the two floors to her car. She was looking forward to the work, because it was Tuesday again.

It was not that she and Gabriel did not see each other otherwise, for both of them lived only a few steps apart, but Tuesdays were always their favorite.

Because Jody and Dean were funny and sympathetic and meanwhile everyone had become friends.

She hummed happily in the car to the music of ‚Abba‘ and was just happy.

Gabriel and she were currently in cloud nine and even though they both worked a lot, they always found their way to each other.

Maria was convinced that not even her boss could disturb her that day. But fate, of course, had planned it differently again.

 

Gabriel stood in front of the bathroom mirror, wondering if he should shave, but decided against it because he knew Mary liked his beard.

The butterflies fluttered wildly in his stomach and with a grin he grabbed his seven things as he thought of his new girlfriend. Although ... that was probably a bit over the top.

Maria was everything he had always wanted. She was just adorable. But he also knew that he had to take it easy, which was difficult for him. So far, except for a few kisses and a little cuddling, there was nothing.

With a glazed look, he thought about meeting her two weeks ago. Their day together and the surprise when they both found out they lived in the same street.

Then the big disappointment when he was at the lake last Tuesday and he got a message from Maria that she was not working, because her boss would have given her the day off, at short notice and surprisingly.

Well ... why? Nevertheless, the three had eaten a snack and Gabriel discovered a new cook in the snack bar.

 

Both were talking on the phone that evening.

"If I tell you everything, you probably think I'm totally stupid because I'm still working there. Besides, it would blow up the phone costs," she giggled.

"Then come over to me. I open a good bottle of wine, and we make ourselves comfortable on my balcony," Gabriel replied and his heart began to beat expectantly faster.

Half an hour later, both enjoyed the warm evening air and looked at each other in love.

"Where should I start?" She murmured, taking a sip.

"Best in the beginning. How did you come to work on the lake?"

Maria told him everything. The drama began when she had lost her beloved work in which she was employed for eleven years, as her then boss decided to sell this locally, because he was tired of it. She quickly found something new again. However, after seven months this boss told her that he had only taken her because he needed a vacation replacement for his employees and that he wanted to take over a second business that did not turn into anything.

During this time she had also met her future chef, who was allowed to use this kitchen for his caterings, as the flood had destroyed his restaurant.

"And there I am. The requirement was that there were only two restaurants in a double pack.

We've rebuilt everything from top to bottom, because you can not imagine how disgusting the previous owners left it behind. We had to rebuild the reputation and that took almost two years. "

"Yes ... if the reputation is ruined ...", he giggled and Maria agreed.

"Finding staff is not easy these days."

"And good staff is even harder to find," Gabriel laughed and Maria nodded.

"My boss can be so happy that he has his mother, who has everything under control in the other restaurant. But she can not cook and I can not count anymore how many cooks have come in and out over the four years. And if there is a need for a man or a woman, then I am either in the upper restaurant, or downstairs with my boss or I drive back and forth. Although both are only 500 meters apart, sometimes it just sucks."

"You do not deserve that. Why are you doing this?"

Maria knew that he would react that way, because her family was of the same opinion. That's why she hardly ever talked about her work. She did not know exactly why she was so stupid.

There were more than enough reasons why she should stop. It started with the fact that there was no roster. If the weather was nice, she had to be there. When it rained, she was free.

Mostly, she learned it the earliest one day before or anyway only on the same day.

It was only a temporary job, which meant that in winter she worked elsewhere.

But these were her two babies. She was there from the first day. She had helped to make these two places what they were. She had put all her heart into this job.

It was a nice feeling when Maria worked in the other restaurant and the guests asked her boss about her.

It was a nice feeling, if they did not eat, because Maria could cook better.

It was a nice feeling when they came, thanked for the food and praised it.

Maria loved her work, at the same time she hated it many times. But she was loyal. And her boss knew that, and used it shamelessly. Possible that Mary was naive. But these remaining four months she would still hold out and then consider how it should go on.

"And what is this Czech doing in your kitchen now?"

"This boy is called Alexander and was supposed to be my kitchen assistant. Oliver, the cook in the other restaurant has not come to work overnight. And my good-natured boss had previously given him an upfront money of 2150 euros, because he complained that he would otherwise be thrown out of the apartment."

This was not the first time her boss had been exploited in one of these ways by one of her former employees. On the contrary. She begrudge him that he once again became fooled. Because, he learned nothing from it. He was a stubborn and Maria had no nerves and no desire to tell him anything else. In fact, she was the one who suffered the most.

"And Alex should become Oliver's successor?"

"If things go well, yes. If he can not do that ..."

Sighing, Maria drank her glass and refilled it again. She did not want to think about that.

 

That her boss made her wait again, even that could not cloud Maria's mood, and so she sat down in the garden and surfed in her cell phone.

"Nice that you're back. We've already missed you," one of the regulars greeted, approached Maria and then whispered. "You cook much better than your boss."

Giggling, he winked at her and Maria laughed. "Do not let him hear that."

"Where do you were last week. Did you have any free?"

With an amused snort, she closed her phone and shook her head.

"We currently have staffing issues and I had to cook in the other restaurant."

"Uh-oh. Yet again. You should clone yourself."

"That's still illegal," she replied cheekily and waved goodbye, because at that moment she heard the car from her boss.

In a good mood, she set to work and in a quiet minute she gave her boss the new menus. He asked her to make a small card a few days earlier, in case there was trouble again. Maria had sat down until nearly midnight the night before, had worked out everything on the computer and welded everything with laminating film.

She was proud of her work and her boss was also satisfied.

"You did well. Thanks," he said and stashed the cards.

_‚You're kidding me now!‘_

Thanks. That was all she got?! Her boss once again assumed that everything was taken for granted. That Maria did everything for free.

_‚Each of these shit slides cost one euro. Not to mention the paper, the print cartridge and the work!_ _Any temorary help that comes on weekends, to wash dishes, to sell ice cream and to make order in the garden, or just lazy to stand around, gets 10 dollar per hour on the hand!‘_

Maria worked for less hourly wage. Of course, the temporary workers were not registered.

Moonlighting. How many times had Mary wished that someone would come and that he would get a report and punishment. But that was with the police. Was again a traffic offender on the road ... no one there.

She took her own knives to work. She did not throw away her plastic cups at home, but washed them out and took them to work. She had even taken her own pans! Maria's blood was boiling with rage.

Over with the good mood. Determined to put at least five more hours into her work records at the end of the month, she grabbed a cigarette and headed outside.

Because she knew that if she confronted her boss with it now, then it would degenerate and she might take off her apron and go.

And that was not her style. She had no doubt she would find something else again quickly. But she was attached to her work and that was not her style.

_'What would you do without me? You could not just lock up here, but both!'_

 

"You are so quiet today."

Dean gave Gabriel a sidelong glance as he creamed himself with sunscreen.

"Maria's boss is such an asshole."

"Tell us something new," Jody laughed and took off her sunglasses, turned on her stomach and looked at Gabriel.

He told his friends what he had discussed with Maria a few days earlier.

"And why does not she just quit?" Dean murmured and shrugged.

"Because she is too good-natured. She does not want to abandon her boss and mother."

"But the good soul is only exploited. Can she rely on him in the winter? What if he would register her for a few hours during this time? She would not worry about the employment office and would not have to look around for another job for a few months if you ask me. An annual job would certainly be the better solution," Jody replied.

"Yes, she knows that too. But she would hold on to those few months, she meant. I'm just incredibly sorry for her, because this idiot does not know what he has on her. I would like to give him my opinion. "Gabe grumbled and pouting crossed his arms over his chest.

"Cupid's arrow caught you pretty good," Dean chuckled, lying down on his sunbed and picking up the phone.

"You quickly get that idea out of your head. That's their business and you do not mess around!" Jody warned, whereupon Gabriel snorted contemptuously.

 

_,I can not believe it!‘_

For the third time he told the guests already, what Oliver was an ass.

Meanwhile, her boss had turned on the lawyer who had reported him for fraud and the letter was already out. But did that affect the other people?

If Maria would do that ...

Of course, her boss turned out to be a poor victim again, okay ... he was too, but did he have to pin it on everyone's nose?

Maria switched to silent again and talked to her boss only the essentials.

He even involved one of the suppliers, whom her boss really could not stand, in a 15-minute conversation because he just had to talk. And since Maria had no desire to talk, everyone else had to join in.

When she was in the garden again for cleaning up, to the guests she was naturally friendly as always, she could feel the burning glares in her back, because she knew very well that he did not like it when she talked to the others.

Of course he also disappeared again and again and drove to the other restaurant for control, but on the whole he did not let her out of his sight.

Again and again he sought the conversation and Maria enjoyed giving him short and concise answers.

Every little thing annoyed her again. And if only he put the used glasses on the previously wiped surface.


	5. Chapter 5

Maria was just standing at the ice dispenser and saw the three coming from afar. Her heart jumped when she spotted Gabriel.

Then the phone rang from her boss. If he only replied with a ‚yes‘, Maria knew the call came from his mother and that could either mean she needed something or that Alex had too much work and needed help. In any case, it meant Maria had to start the car again.

And that's exactly how it was. The beer had gone out and Alex had done something wrong.

Annoyed Maria rolled her eyes, took the key out of her pocket and disappeared.

Traveling back and forth was not fun anyway, but when there were dozens of cars all over the lake, with little space left, she hated it even more.

"If any knucklehead gets into my car then you can save on a new car," she muttered, impatiently pounding the steering wheel.

Maria had arrived at the finish and was able to drive again, because the matter was done by now.

"Great!" She grumbled and went back to her boss.

After she cooked the meal for the three of them, her supervisor had the grandiose idea that Maria should go to the nearby bakery for some bread and rolls.

He always did that himself.

"Asshole," she grumbled and started the car again, but smiled at the same moment, because she would like to tell him that all his defensive attempts not to come too close to Gabriel, failed anyway.

"And the five hours turn into six. Because the gasoline does not come from the water pipe."

 

Gabriel found it all different than funny and he would have liked to say his opinion to the owner of the snack bar. Growling, he cut a bite off his steak and shoved it into his mouth. The warning look of his friend Jody made him just annoyed rolling his eyes.

 

Back at the snack bar, Maria realized disappointed that the three had left. But she knew they would be back in a few hours.

"Four dollars," she said as two of her favorite guests bought Maria two popsicles.

"The rest is for you," the lady smiled and gave her a five-dollar bill.

Maria thanked him smiling and pocketed the dollar. Again, herr boss eyed her suspiciously.

In the first two years, only their boss cashed anyway and the few cents that came together when selling ice, Maria left in the cash box. In the third year she took her tip out when the boss was not there. In the fourth year, she made it in front of his eyes and smiled inwardly every time she felt his burning eyes. But hello? That was her right, after all.

She did all the work and he pocketed all the tips.

Of course, she got something to drink now and then, but of course she would prefer it otherwise. After all, people did not eat because the boss was so funny.

And the guests thought he shared the tip. But with this rumor she had cleaned up two weeks ago. And she smiled inwardly even more when she realized that some of her regulars were counting the price down to the cent when her boss cashed.

 

Three hours later, Maria was just cleaning the dishwasher, her boss called his mother.

"Is something going on in your restaurant?"

"Then send Alex home at 5 pm and if there is something, call. Maria then goes up."

Lovingly Maria would have thrown the cutlery after him.

_,This can not be true!‘_

And then he spoke again in a sugar sweet voice. "Can you please, and, were you so sweet ..."

Maria was so tired of it. By now he had his seventh cider intus and already two schnapps and was in a good mood. And Maria's mood got worse by the minute.

She saw him again go to the music system.

_‚When you turn up the music, I volunteer to drive to your mother!‘_

But he left it, thank goodness.

It was always the same. She remembered the day before. Alex was allowed to go home earlier, and as soon as he was gone for five minutes, Mary naturally had to move out. The whole afternoon not much work, but then. Murphys Law.

So she decided to go outside to clear away the menus, salt & pepper and ashtrays. She looked at her watch.

_‚Maybe a little too early, but ... why not‘_

 

"Hey," Gabriel smirked and ran his hand along her arm.

Dean, Jody and he sat down with their drinks at the table and Maria moved on. She was about to shut one of the sunshades when she heard her boss's cell phone.

"That may not be true," she sighed annoyed as she tied the string around the big umbrella.

"The mobile cook is in demand again."

"Maria," her boss called from the window into the guest garden.

"Boss?!", she answered without turning around, followed by a soft sigh.

"Alarm."

"Naturally!"

 

"If I had known that they only wanted two breads with bacon and a salad with shrimp, I would not have brought you," his mother said apologetically.

_‚As if you could do that ...‘_

Maria liked her boss's mother, though sometimes Maria was annoyed that she was watching every move carefully.

But unlike her son, she worked. Unlike him, she brought people drinks and food to the table, cashed at the table and was friendly to every guest. Maria admired her for that. Her son could cut a slice off her. It was not so busy there. It was more civil and quiet. Especially older audience. But Maria liked the atmosphere there and was loved by the guests.

"The cops drive already their round today," she said, gesturing out the window. "Does not Wolfgang hang again on the cider line?!"

Maria laughed briefly and raised her eyebrows. She did not say anything about it, because she was afraid of getting into the devil's kitchen, but his mother knew how to interpret her gaze.

"Tell him to watch out. It's only a few meters, but you never know."

For the first two years, Maria wondered why he was behind the wheel when they drove to the restaurant in the morning, but his mother drove home in the evening.

By and by, she had it together then.

She did not want to claim that her boss was drinking. Because what he drank did not have much alcohol.

"Ok, I have to go back. Call if there is something, "she said and was out at the door again.

 

"Watch out when driving later, the fuzz is on the way", she called into the snack bar, left her boss back and went back to work in the garden.

She felt his eyes on her neck because she knew he did not like it when she talked to people. But Maria did not care that much now. What should he do? He could not release her. That would be his downfall and she knew that. And she also knew that he knew that.

 

"We are the last ones," Dean remarked as he looked around. "What time is it?"

"Nearly 8 in the evening. I also have to go home to my little one, "Jody replied, emptying her glass all at once.

"It is so hot. I would like to jump in there now," Maria groaned and pointed to the lake.

"Then let's do that," Gabriel smirked and she thought for a moment.

 

"When you're done, you can go home."

Maria nodded, wiped her hands on the towel and fetched the key to the staff toilet.

Today she was not disappointed that her boss sent her home. Smiling in anticipation, she put on her bikini under her clothes and briefly tapped on her cell phone that she was waiting for Gabriel in a slightly secluded spot.

Then she went back into the snack bar, said goodbye to the three of them and her boss, and grabbed the car key.

 

"Do not mess it up," Jody chuckled, hugging the smaller one, and with two pecks on his cheeks, waved goodbye to the two men.

"I wish you a nice evening."

Dean winked at him again before he got into his car.

 

Gabriel's heart started beating faster when he spotted Maria in the clearing.

She had already spread her bath towel in the meadow and sat on it, waiting impatiently.

"Hey," he smiled and sat next to her.

"Hey yourself!" Maria grinned and took a deep breath.

No human soul was to be seen far and wide and nervousness spread throughout her, as Gabriel looked at her with a piercing look.

A little hesitantly Gabriel put his hand on hers and immediately felt the warmth that spread inside him. Slowly but steadily he slid closer, until both felt the other's breath in their face. Gold hit fawn brown as they looked deep into each other's eyes.

Maria put a hand on his cheek, stroked gently to his chin and leaned forward a bit. With one last look, he bridged the last piece and closed his eyes before their lips touched. Maria's hand wandered into his soft hair and came to a halt on the back of his neck, gently pulling him closer.

Fireworks exploded in his body as their tongues touched.

Slow, teasing, demanding. His hands stroked her arms and a soft moan escaped him as their bodies touched.

"The sparks are spraying between us," Maria chuckled as she felt a slight electric pulse on her fingers as they made their way under his T-shirt.

"Hm," he hummed happily, smiling into the kiss.

Suddenly she stopped and got up. Confused, Gabe looked at her and Eva held out her hand.

"Did not we come for a swim?"

"Oh yeah, there was something," he muttered, before grabbing her and hastily taking off her T-shirt.

The pants flew in no time and the socks were no obstacle.

She blushed slightly under his gaze, for she had not been so well regarded by any man for a very long time. Gabriel's eyes were hungry.

Impatiently, he undressed down to the swimming trunks, and took her by the hand, went down to the water and Maria dipped a toe into it.

"Phew ... a bit cold," she murmured, but had made the bill without Gabriel, who lifted her unceremoniously, as if she weighed nothing and waded into the water with her.

"You do not dare!" She shrieked, clutching his neck.

"You know me badly," he grinned, releasing her.

Gasping and snorting, Maria came to the surface again and lunged at him.

Like little children they splashed wet before their lips found each other again. Again and again, only the lack of oxygen caused both to separate. Lovingly, he stroked her wet hair from her face and behind her ear.

"It's getting pretty cold here," she shuddered and Gabriel hugged her tighter.

"Then we should be on our way," he whispered in her ear.

"To me or to you?", She breathed to his lips and with a wink she took him by the hand.


	6. Chapter 6

'A dream to eat there, the boss outrageous and rude'

Two years ago, Maria had created a page on Facebook. An advertisement for both restaurants. With many photos, funny pictures and other things. In the past, it was mainly divers who had created and posted posts there, by now there were also many regulars.

Anyway, it was always fun to talk to each other virtually.

When Maria opened her laptop and saw that she had received a new message, she was always in a good mood. That had changed.

"That's the second this month. And we do not have until mid-July," she mumbled to herself and deleted the message.

In the past, everyone had been able to create their posts; Maria had to cancel this function. Even worse. By now she was almost ready to delete what she had painstakingly set up. And all because her boss was an ass.

"This day starts again great ..."

With a sigh, she put on her shoes and left her apartment.

 

It was Thursday, it was nice weather and Gabriel was on vacation.

Of course he could not always hang out in the snack bar, but he was at the lake, near her.

"Hello, lovely woman," he grinned, and took her in his arms, in the parking lot.

"Hey."

Smiling, she put her hands on the back of his neck and kissed his lips.

Unfortunately, the time passed much too fast and sighing Maria looked at her wristwatch.

"I have to go."

"See you," he called after her. Maria turned around, and threw a kiss to him.

 

"Great," she murmured as she parked her car in the meadow and spotted Peter's black car. Rolling her eyes she removed the sunglasses and threw the car door closed.

Peter was one of the regulars who was already retired and occasionally helped out to earn a little extra.

Little resilient, so slow that you could tie his shoes while walking, and a memory like a pasta strainer. Exactly the right thing for work in the hospitality industry ...

 

There was an incident last year and Maria was anything but enthusiastic about him.

Back then, it was one of those days when the air was burning. In the sky, as well as in the snack bar.

It was stressful and Maria rushed from one corner to the other. She also had to do the work normally done by Peter because he did not get the job done. Maria threw the used cutlery into the dishwasher and told Peter to polish and sort it afterwards.

Peter polished the wet cutlery with a wet dishtowel. You could imagine what the cutlery looked like. Had Maria had the time, she would have done it herself, but unfortunately she was not an octopus with eight hands.

"I'm sorry, Peter, but you have to do that again, you can not give that to people," she said, taking the cutlery and throwing it back into the machine.

It was in a normal tone. She was neither angry nor aggressive. It was stressful and maybe she had forgotten to say 'please'.

What had Peter done? He went to the big boss, got his money, said that he could not work like that anymore, and was not seen for the next nine weeks.

In the middle of the day, at the stressiest time. All her boss had to say was that he was sensitive.

Great, she could buy something from that ... Thankfully, over the next few days, they had found someone else for this job.

Maria was already helped if someone sold the ice and cleared it in the outdoor area.

She was used to working hard. Nevertheless, two additional hands were helpful.

For Maria the topic 'Peter' was done. Also for her boss.

 

Last winter, he came back more often, slime again with him, and her boss was wrapped around his finger again. Maria was anything but enthusiastic.

But as already mentioned. Staff was hard to find.

"Only when there is need and only for clearing and selling ice," he told her then.

 

Peter was back. Meanwhile, he also made the cold kitchen, and although Maria had already shown him three times how to make different dishes, she still had to keep an eye on it. If he made four pancakes with ice cream a day and all four looked different, Maria could only shake her head silently. Everything her boss said, "Well done, Peter."

In any case, Maria kept her mouth shut and talked only the essentials. And by no means criticize that would be fatal. The cutlery made Maria herself, and even if her boss blurted over him when he was not there, when he was there, he crawled so deep into his ass that Maria got goose bumps. Two-faced people, this was something she could not stand. Of course, the two of them were talking in the kitchen when Maria entered the snack bar.

Silently she did her work and since nothing was happening, she decided to change the frying and to clean.

"Peter can do that," she heard her boss say.

_,I doubt it. So that I then have the double work. Besides, he's been busy with gardening for 20 minutes, which I can do in less than half the time’_

"I have time," she answered only.

 

As was always the case in the hospitality industry, there was either nothing going on, or it all came at once.

Sometimes Maria had the feeling that somewhere outside the lake a billboard was raised saying that everyone should eat right away, otherwise there would be nothing left.

Maria tried her best, but at some point everything was filled with orders and she did not have time to prepare her salads.

"Peter can do that," her boss said

"Then tell him that, please," she hissed.

If the Schnitzel finished earlier than the salad, you could almost imagine what a mess it was.

Maria did her job long enough to have her routine, but if she had to take care of other things as well, she was swimming too.

Already the second guest complained that the salad was not marinated, or too little. Anyway.

"Peter, if we have enough of something, then of the marinade. Please do that."

That, but neat, 'she denied.

Maria could still feel his eyes rolling in her back as she turned back to the stove.

"The salad is out," he said suddenly.

"What?"

Startled, her boss turned around and Maria shrugged.

Thank God the midday business was over, and Peter was sent to the other place to get supplies.

"I told you before, you should tell him not to overload. These were double portions. "

Shaking her head she turned her steaks on the grill.

"Then tell him that."

"I will not say anything to him anymore, you know how he reacts.

He does not listen to me anyway, but to you. "

"You know how he is ..."

_,Yes, like a toddler. But they are at least capable of learning’_

 

Maria was polishing the glasses and saw Peter coming in from outside with the broom.

_,I do not believe it …’_

"Did Peter sweep outside?" She asked when he was in the garden.

"Yes," her boss replied.

"With the broom from inside? Where I sweep together in the evening. Where I now have all the cobwebs and all the stuff stuck!?"

"No, he knows we have an extra broom for outside."

"Apparently not," Maria hissed, because that was something that made her go up the walls.

"And once again I can not do anything right!"

Peter was back in the meantime and placed the pile full of plates louder than necessary on the sideboard.

"Send him home," Maria muttered with clenched teeth.

It was better for Maria to be under stress than to work with Peter for just one more minute than absolutely necessary.

After Peter was reassured by her boss by giving him a beer and talking extensively about inconsequential things, he sent him home, thank God.

"You know how he is ..."

_'Oh, just shut up!'_

"He could have left half an hour ago, but he did not want to."

_'You just had to stop talking ...!'_

Maria was annoyed. She went out the door, but as soon as she turned the corner, she put her smile back on. It was very hard for her to pretend that everything was fine. But when she saw the friendly faces of her guests, when they praised her and stroked her soul, then everything was fine again.

 

Maria retreated outside to smoke, because her boss told her the same thing again for the hundredth time. Besides, she could write undisturbed with Gabriel there.

'Well, do you have a sunburn?'

'Hey, I see you, but dare not come over'

'You better leave that, otherwise you might risk a blubber lip'

'Of the old man? I'm not afraid of him'

'He weighs almost double of you even when you're wet and is almost 8 inches taller than you'

Maria saw Gabriel and waved to him before she went back to the snack bar.

 

Maybe it was because there was music on the other side of the lake, maybe it was because her boss was in a very good mood again. Anyway, he played disc jockey again.

'You have lied to me a thousand times ...', the loudspeakers roared and Maria's head throbbed.

"Half past four," she murmured as she looked at her watch.

In half an hour she was jumper again, because Alex from the other restaurant had a course. So she decided to clean the outdoor area and then to go if she had to. In principle, Maria hated to keep going back and forth, but at that moment she wished that she would be ordered away.

She was just finished, wondering what else she could do in the fresh air, just so she would not have to go back to the lion's den. But two guests thwarted her and ordered two fish.

For half an hour, the music was running at full volume and Maria's blood was already dark red.

She did what she always did. She stopped talking, heard it, but did not answer when her boss said something.

_'Only missing, that he starts to dance'_

Angry, she threw the chopped garlic on the grill. Embarrassing. Maria just found it embarrassing how her 52-year-old boss performed. Like a boy in a disco.

Adding to that was the fact that he thought the guests liked that. But Maria knew better, because she was the one who was out now and then.

She had made a decision and put a pallet of Cola-light and some onions in front of the door.

_'Let's get the hell out of here!'_

Maria was just about to tell her boss that she was going to see his mother in the other place when one of the regulars called.

_'Great. Really great …'_

 

Ten minutes later, she shouted to her boss that she would drive, and he should call if he needed her.

"No, you stay here with me," he said and Maria shook her head.

"I need a few minutes rest, otherwise I freak out!"

With these words she left and let him stand bewildered.

It was rare, but this time Maria put her head through. She was not angry, she was so furious and she swore again that this was her last season.

With a swing, she hauled the drinks on the counter and leaned against the table moaning.

His mother immediately knew that something was wrong.

"I did not last a second longer," she mumbled and his mother sighed.

"Do we have Holiday again?"

Eye rolling, the two women looked at each other.

"Would you like something to drink?" She asked sympathetically.

"Thanks, no, I have to go back down, but it took me a few minutes to rest.

It was often at the border, but today it's up to my neck. "

"You do not need to tell me anything, I know my son."

Maria was about to leave when guests came to the restaurant.

"If I could call, I would stay here, but the music is so loud he would not even hear the phone."

And so she drove again. Amazingly, she found that the music was still running, but quietly. She told him what she had to say and before he could answer she was gone again.

 

"Pleasant, this peace," Maria smiled, gratefully accepting her coke, which her mother's mother gave her, and shook the fries in the frying pan.

It was less than ten minutes before her cell phone rang.

She answered and did not let her boss speak.

"I am cooking right now!"

Shortly thereafter, his mother's phone rang.

"She will come when she has time," she answered just as abruptly and hung up.

Maria bit her lip to bite a giggle.

She had got her revenge, but still she was mad at her boss.

"I ..." he started as she stormed in at the door.

"I had work to do, or do you think I'm drilling my nose?"

Maria finished the spaetzle with ham and cut the toast into two halves.

_'Was that all the stress?'_

The clock was now half past seven and it looked as if a storm was coming.

_'Great, and in the other place the sunshades are still open ...'_

Now Maria was annoyed with herself.

She was just cleaning the grill when someone was standing by the window.

"Is there anything else to eat?"

Groaning softly Mary rolled her eyes.

All day long these assholes lay by the lake and then, when she was cleaning, they came to eat.

"I'll have to ask my cook if she's going to cook something," she heard her boss say.

_'Oh ... so gracious ...'_

"Only little things", Maria called.

His girlfriend ordered a bread with bacon and horseradish.

"Will you make me a grill plate?" The guy asked.

"I just cleaned the stove!" Maria called back.

The bread was also history, because they preferred to go to the pizzeria.

Maria did not care. Her boss was annoyed a little, but she did not care anymore.

She finished her work, cleaned and since there were only two people left at the tables in the garden, she disappeared again.

 

Fifteen minutes later, her boss came to the restaurant.

"You are still cooking?"

_'But you have good eyes ...'_

Without answering, she beat the meat and as a storm brewed, she looked worried out of the window. She wanted to go home before the thunderstorm came.

Just before nine o'clock someone wanted something again.

Her boss's mother noticed that Maria was completely exhausted and said no. She gave her a grateful look, and when asked by her boss if Maria wanted something to drink, his mother replied.

"She wants to go home."

Maria turned around and had to bite a laugh.

That her boss still had very bad cards today, and his mother would tell him her opinion, that was certain for Maria. As it should be, she said goodbye and hurried to come home.


	7. Chapter 7

Of course there are always and everywhere these and those people.

But the difference that Maria's boss made was sometimes a bit scary.

If children stood at the exit for the ice and were a bit louder in their talk, he snapped at them, although he entertained the whole garden when he yelled out the window and told someone something. But then again there were children whom he loved above all, gave them an ice cream or something sweet. Maria stood a few feet off and wanted to puke, in his wrong and backhand manner. There were people, older people, who came almost every day, but only ate a meal together. Of course, he did not like that at all. There were people who ate one expensive meal one day, the other day just a snack. Her boss was upset about it. At Maria.

Maria was his grief box and he unloaded everything with her. There were people he liked very much because they gave him a drink, but only consumed coffee and cake.

There were people he liked to talk to, to whom he spent a drink or two, because they made him feel like he was funny. And then there was the sort of people who came to the lake who brought their food and drinks and just enjoyed a relaxing day at the lake.

Her boss kept complaining, but he had not leased the lake and people were not obliged to buy anything from him, and if she was a guest, she would think that way too.

Maria was so tired of it. Her tongue was already sore, because she bites herself so often.

If he was not her employer, she would have preferred to throw everything at his head about what went through hers.

Sometimes she was not surprised that he did not have a wife. No one would endure it for just three days.

 

Since the snack bar had four large windows that could be closed with shutters and three of them were open all day, her boss had of course a great view.

While Maria liked to stare at the lake, her boss stared at everything else.

"Mr. Toupet is back, every day ... he never consumes anything and always sits in front of my nose. Or. The divers have all their food package with, instead of buying something here. Or. Look, the old one with the convertible is back. He can afford such a sportster, but never comes here and buys something. Or. The bikini is also pretty close. Or. Did you see that? He's probably weighing 150 kilos." Maria heard, but it went in one ear and the other out again.

And the best happened a few days ago. A young woman came with a baby and bought the cheapest ice. Maria cashed.

"How old is the little girl?"

She replied that she had just turned two.

"And at this age she still wears diapers? At eight months my daughter was out of the diapers. They're expensive, or do you get them for free?"

The woman was confused, Maria felt ashamed once again, and took cover behind the refrigerator.

"If you save the diapers, you could afford a more expensive ice cream," he called after her.

_'You're so embarassing. This is just unreal’_

 

Her boss was back at full speed. Like the father of the god himself, he fluffed himself up, rested his hands on the counter, and lamented loudly in the garden, telling them stories that Maria had heard for the thousandth time.

_'Can not you just sit down ... you do not have to scream like that, and I'll have my rest!'_

And then came another story that Maria had accompanied for the past four years.

His absolute favorite topic, which he was discussing with one of the guests and forced the others to overhear, was about a mother and her disabled daughter.

Almost every day in the late afternoon, the two came.

"Mother and daughter are back. She will certainly get a lot of support for her child."

She was a 'blue kid'. This is what babies were called, whose umbilical cord wrapped around their necks at birth. Maria thought back, because she too was a 'blue kid', and if the doctors had not responded so quickly, or God had not had his fingers in the game, she too would be handicapped today.

But it hurt and she felt an icy shiver over her spine when she heard people speak so heartlessly.

In any case, the daughter was about Maria's age, but looked like eighteen.

Her favorite pastime was, among other things, to study the four A-boards that stood on the meadow in front of the snack bar where all the dishes were written down.

"And again, this girl is there, they always have everything with them. Not once has she been here for the last four years, buying something. But always dancing in front of my nose. And just imagine, they also undress, without being ashamed. You have to become gay."

But that these people came to the lake longer than the last four years, that was for sure.

Maria could only shake her head as she thought back to last year with horror.

It was a lazy evening, with the exception of two guests, and Maria's boss had the glorious idea of joining them. Maria would have loved to go home, which would have been best. It was an exhausting 12-hour day, but her boss was "scared" alone and she almost always had to stay there until he locked up.

Mother and daughter came. The boss started to blaspheme again.

After some time, the mother came and asked for a can opener. Maria got up and wanted to get it. Her boss turned to her, grabbed her arm.

"Sit down."

Then he turned to the mother and shook his head.

"We dont have."

And then it started. He loudly accused her of coming every day, of living from the state, of never buying anything even though they only had to take a few steps. That her daughter always read everything a dozen times, and that her daughter could not be so handicapped if she always swam out on the lake.

Maria wished that the ground opened and she could crawl in somewhere.

She was so ashamed of her boss.

The mother was, of course, shocked by all the allegations and told him still quietly ... Maria would have freaked out ... that her daughter had various illnesses and had to adhere to a strict diet.

It was so incredibly embarrassing. And he always sought confirmation from his friends.

Her voice broke and she almost started to cry and also Maria had tears in her eyes because she was so incredibly sorry for the woman.

Who in the world gave him the right to judge other people? That was none of his business. But he …

 

Maria could not and did not want to claim that her boss was always drunk when that happened, but unlike her, who drank only water or fruit juices all day, he drank alcohol. Although sprayed only with soda and in a diluted form, but it summed up over the course of the hours. As always, Maria kept her mouth shut. She was not worried that he might throw her out because he needed her. Rather, it was the fact that Maria loved her work and her boss had other sides as well. Although these were less and less.

 

"Finally."

Gabriel locked the door behind his colleague, went back to the bar, poured two beers and put one on the table in front of Dean.

Then he threw his apron into the corner, grabbed the second and sat down next to him.

"Tough day?"

Dean toasted him, and then Gabe sighed and put down his drink as he wiped the foam from his lips.

"Boring day. Nothing is happening here, but I still have to be there all the time because the boss prefers to have a nice life. It just annoying. But tell me, you sounded pretty excited on the phone, what's up?"

Dean put on a mysterious grin and opened his cell phone.

"Nice little pub," the smaller one murmured as Dean opened the photos.

"It could be yours, if you want."

"What?"

"A good friend of my brother was with us over the weekend. He has a small pub he wants to sell as soon as possible, because he's emigrating. Jeeze! Gabe, just imagine that once. You and Maria. Your own thing. She is unhappy in her work, you are dissatisfied with yours. This, that would be perfect. Your chance."

"And if it goes down the swanny?"

"You have to take the risk. Dude, do not always be such a pessimist," Dean answered, rolling his eyes and slapping him on the shoulder.

Gabriel was skeptical. Sure, that would be great. But he was a person who always needed a kick in the butt. And Dean had made it his mission to be that somebody. He had watched Maria and his friend for four years. And it was time for something to happen.

"A unique opportunity and you could certainly do something about the price. Sleep over it. I'll send the photos to your phone. Talk to Maria. You are young, you are pretty. Do not let this chance go through your fingers!"

 

The following day, after a rather troubled night, he had decided.

He wanted to do it and surprise Maria.

Full of energy, he opened his laptop and put together a business plan. Weighed all the pros and cons and stared at his cell phone when he got a message from his loved one.

'Hey, I'm free today. Should I come over?'

Gabe already typed in his cell phone and then deleted the lines again. He thought.

Would she even want that? They were together for a short time. What if it was just a straw fire and then he stood alone again. Maybe with debts?

But then he gave himself a kick in the ass, because he would only find out if he talked to her.

'Sure, come over. I have to talk to you.'

With a beating heart he opened and pulled her through the door.

"Okay," she gasped, as he pushed her against the door and surprised her with a stormy kiss.

Maria had been worried that it might be something bad. Frowning, she looked at him as she noticed the chaos on his desk.

"Sit down," he said, standing behind her, pressing a few keys and letting her digest the impressions.

Maria read it all in peace and still did not really know what he was getting at.

Of course, she had come to the idea of self-employment several times already. But with all the numbers and plans ... Maria preferred to work with her hands rather than with her head.

Gabriel took a deep breath and put his hands on her shoulders. "I realize we only 'know each other' for a few weeks. But I also know that's something very special between us."

"This will not be a marriage proposal, is it?" She interrupted him.

"No ... maybe ... oh, let me finish," he laughed and Maria could not help but giggle.

He explained everything to her and became more and more nervous, because she said nothing.

"Maybe I'm risking too much, maybe you think I'm completely crazy, but I know that I want to experience more adventures with you and ... if you ... if you could imagine ..."

Maria was still staring silently at the screen and Gabe sighed.

He took his hands off her shoulders and suddenly felt like an idiot.

_'I messed it up …'_

Slowly Maria turned to him and he saw that her eyes were wet.

 

She looked into his eyes, took his hands in hers and smiled at him.

"Yes."

It was just a word, but Gabe dropped a huge stone from his heart, for that word meant so much to him.

"Yes?", He repeated joyfully and pulled her to her feet.

"Yes. I want to do this with you."

Maria was still a little speechless, but the idea she found great.

"I'm calling."

He picked up his cell phone and had already dialed the number, then he turned to her again and kissed her.

"Thank you."

The following hours they spent on the Internet and in the late afternoon they had a viewing.

Maria had that dreamy smile on her face that Gabriel loved so much. Hand in hand, they walked through the different rooms. It was small and cute, with space for about half of the people she was cooking in the snack bar.

But Maria had a very different idea when she saw the huge kitchen machine.

In her mind, she already saw herself here pursuing her great passion. Cakes, cookies and other things. Small dishes for the guests, because without cooking, they did not want ... A dream.

Gabriel felt no different when he stood behind the bar. Everything was there and it was all pretty new and unused.

"Thanks for working so fast," Gabe said goodbye and shook hands with the current owner.

"You are two nice, sympathetic young people. I can imagine both of you well in here. And we can still talk about the price."

With a wink, he closed the door behind them.

Both were in the business long enough and had seen many things in their working lives. The way to do it and how it could not work.


	8. Chapter 8

"That was excellent."

The following day Maria was outside again. For the tip of a cook was the praise of the guests and to see contented faces, Maria was often worth more than all the money in the world.

"We only come here for the good food," the man winked and handed her the empty plate.

"What would your boss do without you? I hope you stay with us. "

With a laughing and a crying eye, she looked at the lady and shrugged.

She could not tell them. Not yet. But Maria resolved to print business cards and give them to her guests when the time came. Because she had them all in her heart. They were almost like family.

But there was a problem. Money.

No matter how they turned and calculated, they would not get such a big loan from any bank.

"I will sell my car. It's enough if we have one."

"Or mine. This is even newer," Maria replied and Gabriel nodded.

The small location was on the ground floor and one floor up was an apartment that they had to buy. Or were allowed. It was a huge advantage not always to go back and forth. And then they would live together.

Living together, working together. No minute without each other. Granted, Maria had a little hesitation.

_'Hopefully we will not get tired of it soon, because every person needed time alone'_

They were both no longer teenagers, but both agreed after many talks that they could not or did not want to be without each other.

 

At a joint dinner of the four friends, who of course were very curious about the decision, these concerns were raised.

"We need a middle lottery win."

Sighing, Gabe poked around in his food and Maria rubbed his back encouragingly.

"What would you say to a silent partner?"

Jody wiggled her eyebrows and Gabriel was again alert.

"What would you say to two silent partners? As a broker, you do not earn that bad," Dean grinned and Gabriel's eyes widened.

"We leave the work to you and with everything else we will certainly agree."

Maria fell so hard around Jody's neck that they both lay on the floor at the end.

"I do not know what to say, you are great. Many Thanks."

Gabe was the emotion really written in the face.

"To the four musketeers."

Maria raised her glass and everyone clinked glasses. One problem less.

"Do you already have a name?"

The two young lovers shook their heads.

The four thought and each made suggestions.

"How about 'Angel'?"

Gabriel looked at Maria in love and kissed her on the tip of her nose.

"How about 'Angels'?" She replied and looked at each one in turn.

"No objections from my side. I think it's fitting."

Jody nodded in agreement and looked at Dean, who laughingly raised the glass. "Fits like a glove."

 

It was Sunday. It was already past noon and Maria had not cooked a meal yet.

_'What's going to happen today?'_

She leaned over the big freezer full of ice and looked out into the meadow.

There was a lot going on by the lake and Maria knew that. At first nothing, and then all at once.

As if a sign flashed somewhere. 'Please come eat now' Nervously, she drummed her fingers on the glass surface.

The curiosity about the whole thing was that. Everything else excited the interest, only not what one had prepared. And that's how it should be. Because the dish of the day was a steak with chanterelle and rice.

Maria had already made the sauce the day before and that was another mistake. But she was not a clairvoyant. That was the thrilling thing about her job.

And very often that was annoying. Peter was not there, but a temporary help that had helped her last year already. She knew the process, the two women got along well and understood each other without words. That's how working was fun.

 

It did not take fifteen minutes, then it started and Maria had the next one and a half hours no two minutes to catch her breath.

The orders piled up, Maria was concentrated. Cursed internally for cooking the entire menu, including the fish she hated so much.

But what she enjoyed most was when a dish was ready, she went to the big window, put the food on the counter, and shouted, "Roast pork." Nobody bothered. Maria shouted again.

"No problem, I'm hungry anyway." She hinted that she would take the plate back with her, got some laughs, and no one could look that fast, one got up, and came desperately to her."Enjoy your meal. Watch out, the plate is hot, "she smirked, discovering Gabe, who smiled at her.

How glad she would have sat with him now. But she gave herself a kick in the butt and continued with her work.

 

"Admirable, with what calm you do it all."

"I'm not calm, but I've been in the business long enough," she giggled as she emptied the ashtray.

"Maria!"

She turned and walked to the window to her boss.

"You do not have to do that, we have a temporary help for that today."

Maria knew that, but she liked doing that and did not want to take it away.

"Then she has to get a little faster," she smirked and turned to the next table.

"Hey, Angel," Gabe smirked, gently touching her arm as she passed.

"Maria!"

Rolling her eyes, she went back into the kitchen, because it went on again.

The afternoon was less busy again. Of course, her boss complained again. Complained that some were having their picnic instead of buying something. Maria only listened with one ear, if at all.

By late afternoon, the sky darkened again and many of the people packed their things.

"And then everyone flees home again. It will not rain anyway. Cowards," he muttered softly. "Just another weather driving people away."

_'Boah, howl quietly! As if we had not made a good turnover today!'_

 

He went to the fuse box and pressed the switch for the shutter of the fourth window.

Maria knew what came and closed her eyes moaning. In his opinion, people were attracted to music and came.

_'Enough already!'_

She went outside again. Grabbed all the menus and wiped each one slowly and carefully. Of course she could have done it inside, but the music was a bit too loud.

When she was done she grabbed a bucket of water and began to wipe all blackboards and all surfaces. Then she wondered what else she could do.

Next came the 18 beer tables and 36 benches, which Maria put all neatly back in rank and file. Some of the steadfast regulars watched her amused. Maria next grabbed the broom and freed the tables of cobwebs.

"You take it today with the work but very accurate," Dean laughed.

"I do not want to go back in," she grinned. "The fucking music is three times as loud inside."

"Your boss is in good shape today," another shouted.

"What that may be ..." she murmured, raising an eyebrow.

"Did he look too deeply into the glass again?"

Not at this volume, but otherwise you heard in the snack what the people who sat close enough to the wall, talked. So she saved the answer.

"It's great," another lady said and swayed to the slushy song.

"Yes, but not if you've heard every song a thousand times in the last four years."

Annoyingly, she closed the sunshades.

"Not for long," Gabriel whispered to her and squeezed her hand briefly.

"Maria!"

"Damn it. What's up now …"

 

Maria was refilling the ketchup when she heard the conversation between her boss and a guest at the window. She looked through the fridges separating the drinks area from the kitchen area.

What she had heard, the man had ordered a glass of water. The boss asked because he did not understand him and the man asked him to soften the music a bit.

Of course he did not do that because it was his restaurant and he could do whatever he wanted.

Shaking her head, Maria closed her eyes and prepared for the next negative entry on Facebook.

The water was free only for coffee, but half a liter of water cost. A controversial topic, but the days when water was free, were long gone. The glass had to be washed, the pipe was cooled. If there was no self-service in the snack bar, then the waitress would have to bring the glass to the guest and put away again. These were all services and they were not free.

Anyway. The water was in front of the guest, the boss wanted to cash.

And then followed a loud discussion with various insults that ended with the boss pouring the glass of water and the man shaking his head.

He would complain, he called after him and her boss could not resist an 'asshole'.

He was right, yes, but one could have told him otherwise.

What her boss always did in such situations, he sought confirmation. First he came to Maria, who gave him no answer and did not look at him either. Because she was ashamed again for her employer. Then he got his confirmation from the guests.

 

For half an hour, the music was running at full speed and Maria grabbed her cell phone, went outside and called her mom. Due to the seasonal work, she did not have much free time and could not visit her parents often. But they talked to each other regularly.

She took a few steps, because even outside she did not understand much else.

Maria had stopped telling much about her work, and if so, then only the positive sides.

Because her mother had told her a thousand times to stop there and ... she just could not hear it anymore. Constantly this know-it-all. Maria was old enough and that was why she moved to another city after her apprenticeship.

Apparently her boss missed her because he looked out the door.

"Mom, I have to quit, the work is calling."

On the board at the table was a glass of wine. He always did that when he knew he was exaggerating again. He thought he could do it well again.

If Maria had not tasted this drink, she would have taken it and poured it away.

"Just a song," he whispered and moaning Maria got the napkins to wrap the cutlery.

_'Did not you say that already in the last seven songs?! If your mother knew how her son behaves. You would receive one sermon after another'_

Maria had to giggle slightly at the thought. But she would not burn her mouth. Finally, he was the hand that fed her. Then she looked around.

_'It'll be pretty empty and bleak if I take all my things back'_

 

Suddenly a gust of wind that swept through the snack, twirling the napkins and causing Maria to take a quick step into the garden.

On the one hand, it was fascinating, because at the lake you could usually observe the weather even more intense. On the other hand annoying when the trash can and blackboards had to be put up for the hundredth time.

Gabriel was already closing one of the sunshades while Maria was attending to the other.

"Thanks," she smirked, winking at him.

The mood of her boss had suddenly changed, the music had fallen silent and he watched angrily the events in front of his eyes.

Maria did not have to look, she felt it on her neck.

"I hope I do not have to pay him for his work," he muttered softly, as Maria was inside again.

'You could have moved your lazy ass out, too'

"Thank you, it was very good," one of the guests said and put his empty pan on the tray, in which recently spaetzle with cheese were.

"Yes, I have the best cook. I do not want to say, from the whole country, but at least around the lake and the surrounding area," he whispered, stroking her back without shame and looked straight ahead. There, where Gabriel sat with Dean and Jody at the table a few feet away.

Startled, Maria took a step back and frowned at her boss. If she could have, she would have slapped him in the face.

 

"Quiet, kid!" Dean muttered, holding him in place as Gabe tried to rise.

"This idiot!"

He gave himself a brief look duel with him.

"And Maria does not do anything! I would have slapped him, that he rotates twice on his own axis!"

 

"Closing time!"

Two minutes later, he went to the fuse box and pressed the buttons to make the windows shut. Maria was so glad she was allowed to go.


	9. Chapter 9

"That's very nice of him, that he has released you today. Although the sun winks through some gray shreds in the sky, "Gabe said sarcastically and put a box of wine glasses on the bar.

"I'll hear it all day tomorrow what he had to cook all by himself," Maria replied just as sarcastically, closing the door of her new pub behind her.

She still could not believe that this place would soon be owned by Gabriel and her.

"We have to change the decoration, but it's a dream," she smirked, sighing happily. Gabe stood behind Maria and put his hands around her belly. She grabbed them and leaned back.

"I can not wait any longer. That will be great."

She turned and put her hands on the back of his neck.

"Neither do I."

_'Is it too early for the L-word?'_

Tenderly, he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, put his hand on her cheek and looked deep into her eyes. His heart pounded violently and his thoughts skipped.

He was sure of his feelings, gathered his courage and risked it.

"I love you, Maria."

"I love you too, Gabriel," she whispered against his lips.

His hands slid over her back and found support at her waist as they joined in a tender kiss that sparked fireworks in their bodies.

"What do you think about opening this officially?" He whispered in her ear, pulling her even closer.

"I think we'll go up one floor and start officially opening," she chuckled, taking him by the hand before turning off the light and closing the door.

 

Once again Tuesday.

The weather was like April, which was known to do what it wanted. There was not much going on and Maria let out a sigh of relief as he said out of nowhere that he would go shopping.

"Or do you need me?"

"No, because in case of need is Gabriel there, who rips me out of the shit again."

She could not help it, but in spite of her fears that he would stay there, he stomped out the door angrily.

_'It's your own fault. It has always worked wonderfully in the past few years that you were shopping before you started work'_

Maria took advantage of his absence and began to pack some of her things.

Her precious knives, one of her pans that was not scratched yet, and some of the storage boxes that still looked neat.

The most important. She did not want to have any stress when it finally happened.

As she looked around, her eyes were caught by the piping bags.

_'I'll take a few with me. The boss has no idea anyway how many were there before'_

Good that she had done that because the end arrived earlier than expected.

Some of the grill cleaner and other cleaning supplies, some empty buckets and three silver plates. So that it did not attract attention. She went to the big bag of baking mix and wanted to take a picture of the logo, because the cake she made with it tasted excellent.

Without further ado, she decided to divert a little of it. For a cake, or two.

No, Maria had no bad conscience and she did not consider that as stealing. Rather than remunerating for the past four years.

And her boss did not have an overview of the quantities anyway. All this he left to Maria

_'Nobody should look at it now'_

Grinning, she closed the trunk of her car and went back inside.

Fifteen minutes later she heard the car drive up from her boss.

"Why do not you pick up. Me and my mother called you!"

Her cell phone was always in one of the drawers, because, during working hours, she was not phoning anyway. She had not heard it ring.

Startled, over this tone and with a guilty conscience, she stammered an apology.

"Quick, they need potato salad and turkey!"

Meanwhile, he had cleared the car, that is, half, because the other half came to the restaurant. Everything was piled up in the snack bar and Maria began to tidy up.

"Thanks," it came suddenly and her boss looked sheepishly behind the fridge.

"For what. That I brought the things up? "She replied coldly. He nodded.

"Tz," she snorted and moved on.

_'Missing only that you give me the car key and say that I should drive the goods into the restaurant'_

He had always done that himself, in the past few years, but Maria knew that his mother was mad at him. And he had respect for her. But he did it himself.

 

In the afternoon she was also stubborn. With no guests to talk to, he bombarded Mary with stories again.

Even though she did not feel like it, she started cleaning. She was annoyed that she had to be here today.

Maria was the last one who did not like to work. But then, if there was something to do.

"Now you can call Conny again, he should get the coffee drags for his plants, that's moldy again."

Maria wondered what one of her guests did with all the coffee drags they had been collecting for two years. He probably cultivates the gardens of the entire city.

"It does not matter if it's moldy."

A thousand times he came with this lyre and a thousand times Maria had the same answer.

"I'm the one who always has to breathe the mold. That's poisonous! "

"Really? So. I did not know that."

_'Seriously? Are you living behind the moon?!'_

"What do you have on your weather report?"

Oh, how did she hate this question, which came twice a day. No one could rely on these predictions anymore. Because the spectacle in the sky changed constantly, for weeks.

On the one hand, she understood her boss, because he had to raise the money in a couple of months, where other innkeepers had time throughout the year, and she also understood that the staff had to be there when business was booming.

But the downside to this thing was that it could be gray and cloudy in the morning, but after two hours the sun was shining and temperatures were rising. He released the staff and then did the work himself. Or he did not release the staff and it was nothing. Either way, he was angry about it.

"We talk tomorrow."

_'Naturally'_

She had not expected anything else. Would be asking too much, if she knew the day before, whether she had to work or had free ...

But she was happy too, because it was not long before her friends would show up.

Since the system had some error on the computer, Maria's boss called his accountant, who sent someone.

"May I ask you something?"

Maria had to groan inwardly, because this played submissive kind, which he did when he knew that Maria was not good to talk to him, she found so ridiculous.

"Hm?", She answered and looked at him.

"Can you please get the laptop from the other restaurant?"

_'Now you were there half an hour ago, why did not you take it with you?'_

Maria decided, as she unlocked her car, to spend an extra hour on her work records this month, because that was not funny anymore.

 

"I'll kiss her now, right in front of him."

Gabriel grinned mischievously while tying his shoes and Jody got half a laugh.

"You will not. You're the wiser, are not you? Do not be so stupid and get Maria into trouble! Do I always have to take care of you?" Dean rolled his eyes.

Of course he knew that, yet he wanted nothing more than to touch her when he saw her.

Maria was stacking the plates when she heard the sound of the dispenser telling her that her boss was pouring another glass.

_'Incredible. Do you have to get drunk every day?'_

She had decided to stop smoking because Gabriel did not smoke either. But her boss did not make it easy for her. Leaning against the car, she lit a cigarette, took a deep breath and slowly blew the smoke through her lips.

 

"We'll break up in half an hour."

Maria nodded, cleaned everything and a few minutes later a man stood at the window.

"Can I have a mixed toast, please?"

Her boss just returned from his visit to the toilet and heard the last word fragments.

If her boss was not there, it was Maria's job to pour the drinks, take orders and collect the money.

He reached into his purse and already had the money in his hand.

"Well, you are coming to me right!"

Louder than necessary, he threw the key back on the table and stormed to the window.

The old man was totally perplexed and stared at him.

"I've been watching you for a few days, always standing here in front of my restaurant, bringing everything from food to toilet paper. The campsite is right up there. But you have to pay there, right?"

He gestured wildly with his hands and Maria moved behind the fridge.

If her boss had such an outburst, it was better not to be around.

"What have I done to you?" The other asked in alarm.

"And then you come when we lock up and want something else? I'll file a complaint against you for blocking all parking!"

From the corner of her eye she could see that her boss had the entire attention of the three.

It ended with the man shaking his head as he called after him, 'asshole'.

Maria went outside, got the flag and took off the card with the ice creams, grabbed the last trash can and walked around the little house. As she passed the garden, Maria saw and heard that her boss had fluffed up again in front of the window, and snarled at Jody, Dean and Gabe, who stared at him, shaking their heads.

"If something does not suit you, you can go and not come back again. And you …"

He pointed a finger at Gabriel, who had already got up.

"Everything has gone awry since you came here. You think you can twist my Maria's head, you think you're the greatest and the best."

With half-open mouth, Maria stood in front of her boss and shook her head.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I do not have to listen to this, not from you!" The smaller one hissed and approached angrily.

"No."

Maria turned and held out her hand, holding him back. Her heart throbbed in her head, more than when the loud music was playing again.

That was a step too far. With sparkling eyes she turned back to her boss, threw the ice card and the flag with a swing on the wide windowsill and stormed around the house and through the door.

 

"Now you have gone too far. Long, too long, I have tacitly watched."

She was in a rage and did not let him speak.

"Your Maria?! I never was, I would never have been. I save myself to enumerate what has gone against the grain for me the four years. Because that costs nerves and I do not have them anymore.

I have always been loyal. I was always reliable and I was always ready to do whatever was required. Without re-speech, without ifs and buts. But I can not do it anymore and I do not want to anymore."

She untied her apron and threw it on the sideboard.

"I never did it to a colleague and left overnight. But if you do not come up with a fat apology for all of us tomorrow, that's it."

"From ..."

"I do not want to hear anything anymore today. No sound."

Maria's voice trembled, her boss pale as chalk. She took the key and her cell phone from the drawer and nodded to Gabe with her head before she walked out the door and left her boss perplexed.

 

"Strong appearance. Respect, "Jody said, holding out her fist.

Wow. Gabriel knew that Maria had bumblebees in her bottom, but just now, with her boss ...

That required recognition, and he decided to give her that today.


	10. Chapter 10

"What are you thinking?"

Sighing, Maria turned on her side and looked at Gabriel.

"My boss is such a stubborn ass. If he did not drink so much, it would not escalate almost every day. "

"He needs a wife," he grinned and put his hand to her cheek.

"No one would be able to stand it."

Both burst into laughter.

"Yes you are right. You really have nerves of wire rope. I admire that. "

"You know ..." Maria snuggled against his chest and closed her eyes as Gabe stroked her arm. "It's not easy for me to leave. I have been there since the first minute. Without me wanting to brag, but I think I've been a big part of making both places what they are. And I know, if I left now in the middle of the high season ..."

"I know," he whispered, kissing her on the forehead. "You are loyal. You are unique and every man who has you by his side can be lucky. But you break yourself. You are suffering and that hurts me too. Honey, I love you and I only want the best for you. For us. But I want you to know that I'm behind you. It does not matter if you do not go there any more, or if you still go through the two months. It's your decision."

"I'm curious if he will call me tomorrow."

Maria did not want to think about her boss anymore. She lay in bed with the man of dreams. She leaned on her elbow and looked at him. The moon shone through the window, casting a wonderful picture on his face. His eyes sparkled and his mischievous smile gave her a warm feeling in her body.

Slowly she lowered her head and closed her eyes as she put her lips on his.

 

"Damn," Gabe grumbled and turned off the alarm on his cell phone.

Maria yawned and stretched.

"A good morning to you too."

Grinning, they looked each other in the eye, just lay next to each other and enjoyed the closeness, feeling the warm breath on their faces, which were only inches apart.

Gabriel felt the heat in his body and rubbed his nose against hers. He sent his hand on wanderings and stroked first over her back and then over her soft breasts.

"You are beautiful," he whispered against her lips.

Their bodies came closer and closer, and they cuddled for a few more minutes until they got into the shower.

 

Since Gabriel had to go to work, Maria went to her apartment.

There she switched on the washing machine, grabbed the broom and swept through the apartment. She looked up at the clock. It was already a few minutes past ten.

Usually her boss always called at this time.

She was aware that she would not have fixed hours in her new bar until everything settled down, but that was different. Because she would finally be with Gabriel. Full of anticipation, she smiled at the thought.

Anyway, Maria would miss that least. Not knowing if she needed to work, when she started, when she stopped, and when she was free. Nothing to plan and always ready to be on call.

She raised her eyebrows in amusement as she heard her cell phone ring and read on the display that her boss was calling.

"Good morning," she answered as always.

"Maria, set the day off and come tomorrow at eleven," he said. She could tell from his voice that he had palpitations in the conversation. Afraid that she would say she would not come back.

"Alright," she replied after a few moments and she could have sworn that she had heard a relieved sigh.

 

She knew his tactics. She had known him for four years and had worked thousands of hours at his side. It was like always. So after the motto: 'Let's pass a day and then everything looks very different'.

But not with Maria. Maria could forgive, no question. But forget ... Words that were said could not be withdrawn. You could only make the best out of the situation.

 

"Hey!"

Gabe grinned and took his sweetheart in his arms as she visited him at work.

"A table for two?"

"I'm alone, my companion has to work unfortunately", she smirked in the kiss.

"That's a pity, or not. If you want, I'll keep you company. "

Since there was nothing to do anyway, he sat with her until Jody came.

With her, Maria then went to 'Angels'.

"It's going to be great," she grinned, throwing the dart at the machine one by one.

"I still can not quite believe it," Maria sighed happily and sat down on one of the upholstered benches, resting her arms on the back, her head back, staring at the ceiling.

"Music would be great now."

Jody danced between the tables, handed Maria her hand and they floated like a couple in love through the room.

"We do not have electricity yet," she laughed, spinning around her own axis a few times.

"Do you know what we are doing now?"

"No, but you'll tell me right away."

Giggling, both lay on the ground and looked at each other.

"Flyer."

"We still do not know when we open."

"No matter. We're looking for a design, "Jody replied enthusiastically, pulling her to her feet.

"But what we can do are business cards," Maria said as she locked the door behind her and walked to the car with Jody.

 

When Maria turned into the driveway of the restaurant the next day, her boss's car was not there. So she went in, where she was greeted warmly by his mother.

She started to work with mixed feelings. She was angry again, because Alex had this, and the next day off, which meant that Maria had to go back and forth.

_'Alex's been working with us for a month, but it works for him to know when he's free!'_

In thought Maria threw the first knife after her boss.

The weather was warm, but there was nothing going on at the lake, because gray clouds stood in the sky, which could bring rain every minute. But that did not mean she had no work.

Although Alexander could cook, thank God, but when Maria looked through the refrigerators, she would have liked to close them again and leave.

As she brushed her fingers over the work surfaces. Everything greasy, everything, 'Yuck!' Maria often felt like she was just there to fix everything.

Slovenliness. That's what she hated. But she was already glad that finally after a long search a cook had found. So she did what she did best. Clean, clean up, sort, prepare and repair everything again so that you did not have to be ashamed.

_'If the man had come from the food police yesterday, then we would have had bad cards. No one can work in the pigsty. At least not me!'_

Angrily she threw a piece of meat in the trash can after she smelled it.

 

"What was going on the day before yesterday? My son did not talk. Not so much that I figured it out."

Maria pushed aside the freezer and pushed the mop through, sighing.

"He is still my boss and I am no sneaks. I can not tell you that. All I can say is that it was close to the limit."

Understanding, his mother nodded. She knew her son, but she did not know him the way Maria knew him. His mother and he always drove to the restaurant together in the late morning. Her boss programmed the cash register and then went to the snack bar. In the evening, when Maria and her boss locked up, he drove back to the restaurant. Sometimes Maria came for a drink to talk about the day. Alex and his mother worked in the restaurant. Maria and her son worked in the snack bar. His mother had no idea how her son performed. And Maria would rather bite off her tongue than tell her too much about it. Because in the end it all came back to her. When it rained, the snack bar was closed, as there was only seating outside. In contrast to the restaurant, where people had space inside.

When the weather was bad, either Maria's boss did the cooking or she worked in the restaurant, because Alex was only registered for a few hours and was therefore more expensive than Maria.

Maria liked to work in the restaurant. She liked the mother of the boss. Even if it still bothered her after four years, she was watching every move closely.

But the whole atmosphere was just calmer, more pleasant. Even if the kitchen area was only one-third of what they had in the snack bar.

 

Maria's boss had gone shopping and arrived with a fully loaded car. As always, she carried the things to the restaurant. Sorted, arranged and was actually quite happy that no one intervened and she could do anything she wanted. When she was done, she went to the snack bar, where her boss had meanwhile put the goods, more or less carelessly, and did the same there.

In the meantime, he drove to the restaurant and Maria was glad that she could do her job in peace. Since she knew that the next day her boss was alone in the snack bar with Peter, since she had to cook in the restaurant because her stupid boss had released Alex, she prepared everything carefully. From the salads to the coffee for the iced coffee.

Maria had even baked two cakes.

"I hope there will be thousands of people tomorrow, and you should not know where up and down is," she muttered as she put the chicken into a container.

In the meantime, her sister-in-law, her brother with Maria's nephew and niece, arrived.

Since Maria had not been home for weeks, because if she had a day off, she either spent it with Gabriel or was just too exhausted and wanted to sleep all day, they decided to take an hour's drive to visit Maria and to go swimming.

Suddenly her boss stood there, picked up the ladder and mumbled something about a technician repairing the extractor fan in the restaurant.

 

When Maria wanted to lock up the snack in the evening, her boss suddenly stood in front of her again.

The whole day they had maybe exchanged ten words and it was about the work. He approached Maria with a box of chocolates.

Maria raised her eyebrows questioningly, as he only gave it to her, but said nothing.

_'You can not get away with it so easily'_

Inwardly, she was already performing dances of joy because she knew that it was not easy for him.

These were moments when the air was tense. At last he found words, even if it was only a short 'I'm sorry'.

That was a great satisfaction for her, because she knew he did not like to admit a mistake.

She did not say anything about the other three because the next day was Tuesday again and the possibility might still be found.

"But you can tell your sister-in-law that she's a sales brake."

_'You could not resist that now ...'_

Maria counted to five before she answered.

"I certainly will not do that to her, otherwise they were there the last time!"

_'Incredible!'_

"But it would be interesting to know what she says."

"It would not be. But if you want to know. They came for me and not to eat and drink."

Shaking her head Maria went into the garden to clear the tables.


	11. Chapter 11

The next day, Maria was busy in the restaurant wiping the floor again when the phone rang.

"Maria, where is the Swiss wurstsalat?" The mother of her boss asked.

"Eight portions are in the fridge and twelve in the cold store," she called to her and his mother passed that on to the phone.

"I can hardly imagine that he sells more than twenty portions today," she mumbled but of course his mother had heard that and told him. Maria turned away and rolled her eyes.

"You're supposed to take the Swiss wurstsalat from here," she said as Maria wiped the bucket.

_'What? Actually, I thought, I will not drive today in the snack’_

"It's not like I have no work here. Why is not Peter coming and taking the shit?"

Furious, she slammed the car door and started the engine.

She did not say a word. Put the salad on the table, got some potatoes and left again.

"That's why you did not have to come extra," he called after her, which Maria replied with an annoyed grunt.

 

There were days, there was a lot going on in the restaurant, but not much in the snack bar. There were days when it was the other way around.

There were days when there were no guests, and then there were days when you could have used a few more hands everywhere.

That day was a day, there was not much to do in the restaurant. Maria wondered when she saw the clock, if she should go to the snack bar. On the other side there was a telephone.

Her boss relied on her too much anyway. He would call if he needed Maria.

So she cleaned two windows. Then she wrapped the cutlery and at 14.30 she felt a little bad conscience and she trudged to the car.

On the one hand, she cheered inwardly when she saw that her boss was sweating. Because Peter did not get anything, she knew that.

Even though Maria hated going back and forth between the two restaurants, she welcomed the fact that after ten minutes the phone rang and she had to drive back to the restaurant. Maria knew only too well that it was no picnic when you had to cook next to the drinks and the cashier. But at least he was spared the ice sale, because that took over Peter.

_'Your own fault, why must you give Alexander free today?'_

Yes, Maria was a little gloating. Rightly so.

Then they had no cucumber salad in the snack bar and as the boss did not have time and Peter was either too stupid to slice the cucumbers or needed half an hour to do it, Maria did and brought it down.

She came just when a woman stood by the window and reserved for five people.

Three times a trout and the others would decide on the spot. At 4.30 pm they wanted to come.

_'Runs like a charm'_

Inwardly, Maria had to smile. She stayed in the snack bar and helped, and really prayed that the call finally came and she could drive again.

Her boss was irritated and also Peter was irritated because he really had to work.

The joy can imagine no one, as shortly before half past four his mother called that three guests had come The joy can imagine no one, as shortly before half past four his mother called that three guests had come. Her boss could not look that fast, as Maria already had the car keys in her hand and flitted out the door. She did not stress in the restaurant. On the contrary.

It was already past 5 pm when she returned to the snack bar.

Somebody had thwarted the plan because the fish were still lying on the grill plate.

 

"Now you have hang me out to dry", her boss grumbled and turned the chicken schnitzel in the frying pan.

"Is this a joke?"

Maria tore the patience.

"Up, down again. I can not split myself. You should not have released Alex," she snapped.

"Yes, yes, then go again. I'll do it myself ", her boss hissed and went to the window.

"A salad with chicken strips, once cevapcici and a bread with bacon."

When Maria heard that, she really thought for a moment if she should not drive again.

But she was not like that. She could not do that.

After preparing all meals, her boss came with a glass of wine.

"Let's not talk about it anymore."

Sure, and everything should be back to normal ...

_'No feeling, this man!'_

And that he thanked her every night, she acknowledged with only one ear.

_'You'll be surprised. And then maybe the realization comes, what you had on me'_

Gabriel, Jody and Dean were at the lake but did not come that evening.

Gabriel, Jody and Dean were at the lake but did not come that evening.

For one, because Maria was always on the road anyway. For another, because none of the three wanted a hypocritical apology.

 

"Sure, if we have enough staff, then nothing is going on again", Maria's boss grumbled, gave Peter his money and sent him home in the early afternoon.

_'Murphys Law …'_

Maria stood by the freezer and stared out at the lake.

If not some divers had announced to eat ribs, then they would have certainly locked the snack. It had started to drizzle a few minutes ago.

But Maria prayed that it would stop again. For, as fate would have it, twelve people had a birthday party in the restaurant at the same time. If it really rains, that would mean ... packing things and going to the restaurant. Then they would be three in the small kitchen and that would be hectic, stress and a total mess.

"Does not look good," Gerd said, one of the divers.

"And if we have to open all the umbrellas, and I stand with one beside you, you all will eat here," Maria smiled and winked at him.

The sky had mercy, and the food took place in the dry.

Of course, Maria's boss got a taste and felt a thousand times, where he told her how good it tasted, she just shook her head silently and went outside to clear the plates.

"Thanks, it was excellent."

Maria got to hear that, and her boss was happy about the tip. Money that would have been hers.

 

The following day, after a long dry season, came the long-awaited rain.

But it was not rain, but it was pouring like rain.

Until 14 o'clock was bright sunshine. The lake was well visited, Maria had a hell of a lot of work. Suddenly it was getting dark and then everything went fast.

Maria was used to it. But it got worse every year. There were no more 'normal' summer days. It was either too hot or too humid. There were no more 'normal' rainy days. Because, when it rained, then violently. There was no 'normal' winter, let alone a spring. This year, Maria could remember two weeks in April, where it already had 86 °F. And constantly this wind.

Thunderstorms, hail, flooding and drought. It had taken a long time, but now it was enough for Mother Nature and she struck with full force. We humans have to attribute it to ourselves.

We humans are destroying this planet bit by bit. It's our fault and that's why we have no right to complain.

Of course, there were not many people at the lake after the storm.

Of course, her boss complained again for a quarter of an hour.

All sunshades were open. Thankfully there was no wind and so some of the guests could find shelter under it. At that moment Mary wondered how to close them without getting wet from top to bottom.

_'I think I'll put on a garbage bag'_

"See it positive, you can go shopping now," Maria teased as she looked out the window into the garden.

Well, since her boss had already had three shots and several ciders intus, of course he could not drive any more. That annoyed him, because now he had to get up earlier the next day, and Maria grinned inwardly.

At 5 pm he suddenly said that Maria could go home.

He wanted to stay a little longer because the campsite was always closed on Thursdays and if he was in the restaurant he would have sent Alex home and he himself would have had to cook.

As Maria drove up the forest path, she met several cars.

_'Where are they all going?'_

An inner voice told her that it might be divers.

_'Your fault if you send me home. Although, tomorrow I can listen to it again'_

 

"What do you think about organizing a fleamarket?"

Puffing, Dean dropped a box of DVD's on the floor and flopped next to it.

"Not a bad idea, the apartment is too small for all the stuff," Gabe grinned.

"Okay, get in there," Jody said, using the power drill to tighten the last screw on the bed.

"Hmm ... I'll fall asleep right there," Maria mumbled and rolled on the mattress, only to shriek the next moment, as Gabriel tickled her until she ran out of air.

"Stability test passed," he grinned, pointing his thumbs up.

"I think we all deserve that now."

Maria went to the fridge and got a bottle of champagne.

"On the 'Angels'", Gabe said, holding up his glass.

"On the 'Angels'", everyone shouted and let the glasses clink.

After a nice evening, with lots of snacks and fun conversations, Jody and Dean set out on their way home.

"We should inaugurate our new bed," Gabriel whispered in Maria's ear, kissing her neck until his lips found hers.

 

When Maria got into the snack bar, she expected the chaos of glasses. In fact, her boss had a lot to do yesterday.

And of course he told everyone who did not want to hear that he had to work long hours yesterday. Alone. The poor ...

Shaking her head, Maria accepted the delivery from the popsicle. The last two times Peter had written down what her boss had to order. There were 18 different popsicles in all variations. Not all, especially children, bought the most expensive.

And so it came as it had to come, and although the ice delivery came that day, two of the varieties were sold out in the afternoon.

_'Better, than on a Sunday'_

Maria counted together and was a little proud of having already sold to about two hundred.

"But we still have some, right?"

"You ordered 12 boxes today, of course we still have some," she said as she refilled the inventory.

"I do not care, they should just buy another."

Of course that was not true. Unthinkable, if that would get around, that something was missing.

She bit back the comment that lay on her tongue.

And she already heard him talking to his mother on the phone.

"Do you still have ... Ok, I'll send Maria ..."

"All right, order the next time 40 boxes, we still have an unused freezer in the basement in the restaurant!"

She could not resist this comment.

 

When she returned from her short trip, she loudly heard one of the guests at the window.

"Not that again," she muttered softly to herself.

As I said, there were these guests and those. Max was one of his oldest friends.

When he was not there, he scolded him. When he was there, he crawled into his ass so deep that Maria thought he would never see the light again.

Max was also the only one who was allowed to stand at the window. And that annoyed Maria. When she stood by the stove, he kept staring at her, watching every move ...

When other guests came to the window, he started chatting with them ...

Every other person who dared to stand there, banished her boss in the garden, because, 'that disturbs the process'.

And then the two men chatted ... and chatted ... and chatted ... worse than women could ever do.

_'Damn, just sit in the garden. I always have to listen to all the shit you give of yourself. I'm not interested in that!'_

There was an incident last year and Max did not come back for a few months.

Maria was grateful because she did not like this guy.

 

The snack was big, but not so big to store everything. So there was a room next door, which was used as a storage room and next to the washing up liquid there were also rice, breadcrumbs, ketchup and mustard. At the same time, this room was also the staff toilet and changing room.

A few steps away was the general toilet. For the guests and the people who were at the lake.

At peak times, of course, people had to queue up. Not Max ... no. Maria's boss allowed him to use the staff toilet.

She remembered the moment when he gave him the key.

"If that was not a mistake ..." she said then.

And that's exactly what happened.

"How can you just store food on the toilet ... unhygienic ... food police ..."

These were the word fragments Maria understood.

Without drinking his beer, he rushed off and was, as already mentioned, not seen for a few months.

"Dumbass. He does not have to come anyway."

_'Yeah, I'm curious how long it takes and you call him'_

To her astonishment, that bet she would have lost, her boss also remained stubborn. And when he came back, of course, everything was forgotten and again love, peace, and harmony.

"I've let him pay now, so he knows he can not talk like that," he said a few days ago, but he gave him a beer the next day, because he had a guilty conscience.

He probably always thought Maria did not get that, but. Unfortunately, she got everything...

_'You are such a hypocrite ...'_

 

_'That's the fourth one today ...'_

With a sigh, she took the used shot glasses and placed them in the dishwasher.

_'And you do it on purpose, or with your brain switched off'_

Annoyed she pushed the notes with the orders from the left side to the right.

Maria did not always pay attention and he always hung it up the way it came to mind, but it was her fault again if the guests who had ordered earlier got the food later.

 

Meanwhile, it was the end of the month, you could tell, because there were many guests who bought small dishes, and the boss was pissed off.

Instead of being happy that they even came, he then complained to Maria behind the fridges and privately.

"We can take the weenies, toast and the other stuff off the menu, so there would be a 50% chance that the guests either buy something else or consume nothing at all."

In the evening 'Ballermann' was announced again.

And just the day before, she was grateful that he had not even gone to the music system this week. Well, you should not be happy too soon.

"Only these three songs ...", he hummed and put another wine for Maria on the work surface.

_'You really think so you can soothe me? How stupid are you?'_

Maria only understood half, but he told her the story of one of the guests sitting in the garden. From the past. He said that he was an idiot and he wanted to rub him one.

When she cleaned the coffee machine, she heard that he had miscalculated in the cashier and thought for a moment whether she should make him aware of it. Of course she did that, if only because of the satisfaction.

At first he denied it. The boss does not calculate wrong! After Maria had anticipated this three times, he saw it. That is, he blamed the guest, because if a guest got back too much money, he said nothing, but woe it was to their detriment.

Shaking her head, Maria went back into the garden and was annoyed at having invested her precious nerves.

There were only six people left in the garden and the clock showed Maria that she worked for almost eleven hours.

"The evening's food business was not overwhelming," he murmured as he counted the money.

_'I would not go to dinner in this noise'_

 

It was 19:45 when the first two blinds drove down the windows.

"We go."

That was all Maria heard. She was not finished yet and cleaned the dishwasher with her eyes rolling.

It was not the first time and certainly would not have been the last. Was it the one time they stood around for half an hour, because nothing was going on, but it could be that someone else is coming ... was it another time that she was not even finished with her work.

"Did you turn off all devices?"

_'Have I ever forgotten something in the past four years?'_

Ok, once she had forgotten to turn off the grill. But it ran on a very small flame and was only warm. Her boss did not even know that. And another time she had forgotten to turn off the dishwasher or turn off the light in the cold room. But that only cost a little electricity.

Maria was glad that it had not escalated today, because her boss was already drunk again.

But as already mentioned. You should never praise the day before the evening.

This man was still sitting in the garden talking to his friends.

All these stories from the past ... Maria did not care about that, but her boss did not stop complaining. Then he turned to the window and yelled out.

"We're going to the other restaurant now. Put the empty glasses on the windowsill. Have a nice evening!"

Everyone said goodbye, except this one man. Maria's boss could not and did not want to let that alone.

"Yeah, I mean you ... can not you talk?" She heard and slammed the fridge door shut behind her.

"Can not you just let that be?!" she groaned softly.

A loud conversation ensued, her boss said something else that he would like to beat him, that he should not come anymore and Maria prayed inside, that this spook was over quickly.

He made the blind down, Maria ran to the garden to collect the empty glasses.

"What was that? What's his problem?"

"Not today," Maria sighed. "I wish you a nice evening."

"Such an idiot, usually you should throw him the glass in the snack."

"Please do not, because then I would have to mop up."

Everyone laughed briefly and Maria flitted back, waiting for her boss to finish, had to hear that the one was a filthy swine, a dumbass and a bastard and took a deep breath when she finally sat in the car.

What did her boss think? That she would say yes, sure you are right. You are the best and the greatest ... The times when she gave her shirt for him were long, long gone.


	12. Chapter 12

Maria wondered what she had done next business day.

Of course there was an incident again. And with the same guest he had shouted at the evening before.

This man came to the window, Maria retreated into the background.

"What was that yesterday evening?"

It was followed by a loud discussion with various insults and Maria was afraid that the man would make his threat, and saw already the glass by the window fly in.

To get some rest, she went smoking a cigarette, leaned against her car and blew the smoke through her lips. But this peace was not granted her.

A woman approached her and Maria greeted her warmly. She watched her every now and then when she looked out of the window. She could not remember that she had ever consumed something, but she found out the reason in the following minutes.

 

"You work here, right?"

Maria nodded.

"How do you get along with your boss?"

_'Oh man, what should I answer to this question?'_

"There are these days and those days."

And then it started.

What about this poor man ... that her boss could have it so easy, if only he were a little friendlier ... that it was not the first time that this happened ...

As luck would have it, Maria's boss came straight out the door.

The woman stood with her back to him. He could not hear what was being said, but he was too far away, but Maria tried to tell the lady by eye contact that he was behind her. But she did not care, and she had to get rid of everything she had in her mind. Maria once again stood between the chairs.

"Is it interesting?" He screamed at them.

Maria was embarrassed by this situation.

"He's the hand that feeds me, I can not say anything," she replied, turning off her cigarette and returning to the snack bar.

Of course her supervisor wanted to know exactly what she had said.

"I do not know if something does not interest me, then I do not listen. She just saw what was going on with the man and wanted to know."

"Why does not she come herself and ask? Has she been here before? Lying around all day waiting for something to happen. Just so they all tear their mouths up. Always just spreading hate ... "

So it went again for a quarter of an hour. Whenever Maria thought the topic was through, he started again. He sought confirmation from her, but he bit down on granite. He was once again the poor victim who could not help it. But Maria paid no attention to it.

Maria understood it on the one hand. It was busy. During the day hundreds of people came and consumed something and at some point you were just overwhelmed and it can happen that the patience drops. Then, when everyone was talking, then when you had to concentrate, when you had to do five things at a time, and you just had to make a happy face.

Sometimes Maria was glad not to be at the front because it was really exhausting.

And 80%, her boss had the rest and she admired it. Honestly. He has worked in the hospitality industry for over 40 years.

But there were the remaining 20% and something bad was remembered more and more as a good thing.

But as an innkeeper you had to turn down a gear, because you lived on these guests.

And he could not do that. If he had his opinion, then he remained steadfast. Then there were no discussions where to explain something in peace, but then he was from zero to one hundred in flash speed. And it always ended with the guests shaking their heads, when they did not even have to take insults. And then he ridiculed everything.

Yes, he could have gotten it easier, but he could not be changed.

In the evening a lady came.

"Once debreziner and once frankfurter please."

"A bread or a roll for that?"

In the basket were still one slie of bread and three rolls.

Maria had already heard it and had her hand already on the refrigerator door to prepare the desired.

"Does not matter."

"No, that's not it, because there is an extra charge for the roll, the bread is free."

_'Just give her the roll!'_

It was already past six in the evening and if it was not sold, then Maria had to throw it away.

"Yes, then I'll take that bread and a roll, because you have only one bread left."

"Well, we certainly do not do that, because you do not have to start acting with me. The roll is more expensive," he interrupted her. "We just do it that way. There is nothing for you."

Maria closed her eyes, shook her head and took a deep breath. Of course, the woman went back and at the lake they had a new topic of conversation.

"She has cut herself into the flesh now," he grinned.

_'No, you have. You could have sold something now, if you were not always so stubborn!'_

And then there were justifications that he would not let himself be fooled ... Maria could not and did not want to hear it anymore.

 

It did not take five minutes when a young father came with a little girl.

"What's your name?" Her boss asked in a sugar-sweet voice.

"Emily."

"That's a nice name. And because you told me, you get gummy bears from the dear uncle."

With these words he gave her a small pack and if Maria had not been aware of the fact that she had to mop up again, she would have puked him at the feet.

Suddenly Maria's cell phone rang.

"I love you," she read and had to smile.

"Has anyone written you?" her boss asked curiously.

_'Sure, do you want to read it?'_

Maria just shrugged and returned to her work.

 

For a few days Maria had a kitchen help. After an eternally long search someone had found, with whom she could also do something, without always keeping an eye on her.

Judith was already retired, had previously often helped out in the hospitality industry and she was not foreign to the subject. She was nice, friendly and helpful and had fun at work. And the two women got along well.

The topic 'Peter', however, had not dissolved with it, as the cook would have hoped, since there had been a heat wave for a few days that drove all people out into the open air. In short, there was so much to do that every hand was needed.

"Go away, I'll do it," Judith said, taking the dishes out of Peter's hands.

Maria raised her eyebrows in amusement, because that happened several times. But he let her say something and was not snapped or bitchy.

"Well, hopefully that will be fine," Maria muttered to her boss.

"He likes that," he answered.

_,Sure, of course ...'_

Suddenly she understood, because Peter had to work even less. The weekend was already exhausting and also the Monday had it in itself.

 

In the afternoon, in a brief breather, Maria stood at the freezer for the ice and barely trusted her eyes. That had not existed in the past years.

Roughly estimated there were still a hundred popsicles that caught her eye.

And to her utter astonishment, her boss did not even ask that somebody should get some packages from the restaurant.

Even if they were four in the snack, Maria felt she had to do all the work on her own. Her boss sold a piece of cake. "Maria, plum cake!" He shouted, and with a rolling eye Maria slammed the door from the fridge and hurried forward. Peter was busy talking again, so Maria went to the garden. Judith did not manage to fill the bottle with whipped cream. Maria was there. Besides, she made the food orders. Judith was too stupid to cut the meat, Maria took over. Peter stood in front of the open fridge and did not see the tomatoes ...

She made sure that everything was always refilled and cooked as many dishes as in a long time. In the truest sense of the word, the sweat went down her ass.

_,Oh no'_

Four steps away, Maria heard her boss talk to a Swiss guest.

"... I was the maitre d'hotel and in 'Arosa' the sous chef ...", she mumbled the sentences she knew in and out.

Almost every day, the sky was somehow discharging. No wonder, temperatures have been at 94 ° F for days.

Maria had just had spaetzle at the stove when a wind came up. Wind, that was probably the wrong word, because in the snack bar napkins and cans were flying around.

"Quick!" The boss shouted and the three of them scurried into the garden to close the six sunshades. That meant, Maria closed three and saw Judith fighting one of them.

But she had help from the guests until the cook hurried to her.

"Better say nothing," she muttered, as she had to fight herself, because Peter had the umbrellas in the morning again set up wrong, and it took so much longer.

Back in the snack the boss had shut down the blinds, stood by the last window and watched the people. Of course, the spaetzle were burned, because it would have been too much to demand if he had taken it from the oven, and in the snack prevailed felt 122°F, and a humidity of 95%.

"Just short to drive people out," he sighed. "What do you have in the weather report?"

The same question every day. You could not rely on the weather report anymore.

"No idea, I deleted," she replied annoyed.

"And the pussycats pack their things in. The brave ones get in the car and wait until it's over. Look, the sun is coming back."

If Maria had taken money every time she heard that phrase from him, she would not have to worry about the future and would not have to work anymore.


	13. Chapter 13

Once again Maria wondered why she was taking a shower, because barely ten minutes in the snack bar and she was sweating again like a pig.

"Do not open the windows yet," she mimicked her boss and threw the potatoes into the cold room.

Like almost every day, he had been shopping again and the goods piled up in the snack bar, and Maria had to clear them. For a week, the business boomed at the lake.

He had gone to the other restaurant in the meantime.

One could almost imagine what temperatures prevailed in the small house, when everything was closed all night, and already an outside temperature of over 86 ° F was.

But Maria also knew that if she opened the windows, people would come and she could not finish in peace. So she preferred to sweat.

"Good morning," Judith smiled and put her walking sticks in the corner.

"Probably more at noon," Maria grinned back and pressed the lemons into her hand.

A few minutes later everything was cleared, both women were sweating and Maria opened the windows.

"Do not we have any more salad?" Judith asked as she opened the saladette.

"Great, he forgot the most important thing ...", Maria muttered and got the rest out of the cold room.

"And now?"

"Use it sparingly", Maria replied with a shrug and put some tomatoes on the work surface. "Please turn this into a tomato salad."

"And close this thing if you do not need it," she called, pointing to the saladette. "This already has 59°F and does not recover!"

Not only the people were sweating at these temperatures and the humidity, but also the equipment was too hot.

Then she could hear a stupid saying from one of the regulars, because the beer foamed too much. Maria knew this was due to the humidity, but to explain to someone else who did not understand it anyway, she had neither time nor patience.

The glasses did not dry themselves when they came out of the dishwasher, just like the towels.

 

Maria did not know about the bad news her boss had, and humming, she set about preparing some schnitzel. But she knew him long enough to interpret his expression.

But that was a minor matter, because half an hour later it started again. Maria did not have a minute to breathe and that did not change in the next two and a half hours.

"Guess," she said to Judith as she looked over the food orders.

"No idea, but judging by the cutlery, it was a lot," she grinned, wiping her face with a napkin.

"95," answered Maria, gaining a respectful look.

95 dishes in two and a half hours. It was not a record, but it was a hell of a lot.

The time was just enough to replenish everything when the next onslaught came.

And at some point there was always the time when it was getting too much for everyone. That was so. The heat, the stress. There were only short, concise instructions, a 'please' did not exist for a long time anyway. Everyone silently did his work and cursed inwardly.

"Do not put anything on my work surface!" Maria grumbled, knocking on a schnitzel, and all the glasses and cutlery clinked along.

"Do we have to get the big table?" The boss called.

Maria hated this thing, because the huge table, which one knew from flea markets, blocked everything. She struggled to get into the cold room, and if anyone stood there, she had to hold her breath and sneak on tiptoe to get past it.

And anyway, there was hardly anything on it anyway, because the way to the dishwasher was longer.

"Can you open this bucket for me?" Judith asked, placing the bucket of ketchup on the board.

"I'm going to trim your fingernails tomorrow," Maria replied, laughing.

 

"Alex is only there until Sunday." Suddenly and out of nowhere, her boss burst the bomb.

"What?"

_,Today is Saturday!'_

She only half listened to her boss, because her thoughts were once again roller coaster.

 

On Thursday, she had agreed to take him home because there was no bus at nine in the evening.

That meant ...

Her boss had told her to do that and Maria did not care. She had the same direction anyway.

_,Clear. The day before yesterday was the last of the month. Payday. Why did not that idiot say anything?'_

Yesterday, Friday, when her boss came and unlocked the snack bar, he showed her a message on the cell phone he had received from him.

_,I can not come to work ... problems with the magistrate ... blah blah blah ...'_

He had written in English and also spoke English and a few chunks of German. Her boss always acted as if he understood everything, but Maria had to translate it anyway. The boss had called him and asked if he should lock the restaurant and that he had to be there at twelve.

"Maria, please drive up until he comes," he told her and Maria finished the two dishes before she grabbed the key and drove into the restaurant.

There was already a trout on the grill, in the fridge it looked terrible, and the kitchen help shrugged her shoulders.

_,I can not work like this!'_

The mother of her boss, as well as Maria had already resigned themselves to the fact that the topic, 'Alex' had done.

Maria was inwardly desperate, because she knew that would end in disaster.

It was not even noon and the lake was already full of people who were all hungry.

_,Why? Why? Why?'_

For the umpteenth time, she wondered what she had done so horribly in her previous life that she was being punished.

The hospitality industry was a tough place. No question. And seasonal work was even harder. Without discussion. Because on the days where the weather was fine, work had to be done, and if it went through a month. The longest for Maria was 21 days. But you had to go through it. The merit was not bad and in the restaurant he was his own boss.

It could not be his mother's fault that no cook stayed there. She was nice, friendly and helpful, her boss was different. He rather commanded and liked to see other work.

Alex was 22 years old. Especially with this age you still had enough energy.

Maria was angry, annoyed and she was boiling inside.

Why did she always have to pull the ass card?

It was 12.15 when suddenly the door opened and Alex passed by.

"Thank goodness," Maria murmured and finished until he had changed.

"Thanks," her boss's mother smiled as she picked up the keys and her cell phone and hurried to the door.

"Thanks for coming," she said to him, and that was really meant to be honest.

"I knew he was coming," her boss said as Maria wrapped her apron.

_'You knew a shit. You were hoping for it!'_

 

"What?" Maria asked horrified and looked at him.

"Yes, I misunderstood. I thought he was there until the 30th and not until the 13th."

_'Yes, thirteen and thirty can be confused. No hard feelings!'_

"Seriously?"

Her hearth missed a beat.

"But do not worry, I have a kitchen help on the hook."

' _Yeah great. A kitchen assistant can indeed cook the entire menu. And with this stress, it's only a matter of time before she runs away again!'_

"And in case of need we have Conny."

_'Yes, the 70-year-old cook who goes home after two hours because it's exhausting!'_

"Jenny is still there."

_'Yes, on the weekend!'_

"Nim is on vacation in a week."

_'That would be a possibility, have you already asked her?!'_

"We can do these three weeks like that."

The peace her boss had was incredible. Maria was working on the lake for the fourth summer and knew there was plenty to do in September and that October could still be warm and nice.

That's it. Maria's mood was in the cellar and she stopped talking.

Her boss was just back at the window and Maria at the stove.

"Did not you get your 'vegetable loaf' yet?" He asked the woman.

Maria listened in and looked in her orders. There was nothing written down.

"I have no bon for the food," she said.

"But one hundred percent," he answered as Maria threw the loaf into the pan.

"I have no bon," she replied again.

"Then it's lost somewhere," he mumbled.

_'Yes, and I'm to blame again'_

"For taking so long," he said when the food was ready and gave her a cake.

And Maria had understood that she had needed so long.

"I did not take long, but I can not cook if I do not know about it!"

"I did not say."

"Then do not say it."

"I do not have that."

"Did not he," the woman intervened.

Ok. Maria had overreacted and the mood was icy for a few minutes.

But hey, she did not care.

Then came Christian, one of the regulars. One who came almost every day and thanked her for the good food a hundred times. He bought two popsicle.

Her boss was standing by the window.

_'No, mine!'_

He gave her a five-dollar bill and Maria really thought he had said, 'The rest is for you.'

But he had said, 'Three. The rest is for you.'

_,For real? But it's okay. Give the boss a tip, he's happy too ...'_

She almost bit her tongue so as not to say it out loud.

Christian was a respected doctor, so it did not hit a poor person and every time he bought something, Maria could see that, he pulled out his purse, which was always full.

Almost so that everyone could see how rich he was.

A greasy guy and Maria vowed to have been nice to him the last time.

 

When it was a little quieter, Maria decided to make the dish of the day for Monday.

She cut the meat small and hummed as she threw the vegetables into the pot.

"What are you doing?" Her boss asked.

"Ragout for Monday, but I'll take that to the restaurant," she replied.

"Why?"

"Well ... I'm on duty from Monday, is not it?"

"How so?"

"Because you said that Alex has the last day tomorrow."

"Next Sunday. You did not listen to me, "he laughed.

_'Seriously?!'_

But Maria only shook her head.

"I believe that only when I see it."

"And if, then Judith or somebody else comes to the restaurant. You will stay with me."

_'Who believes it'_

"And if necessary, we lock the restaurant."

"Yes, exactly," Maria laughed halfheartedly.

Would have been too nice, if there had ever been an evening on which everything would have run smoothly.

Just before eight  in the evening, Maria was busy setting tables in the garden when she saw one of the divers head for the snack bar.

Maria greeted him kindly and he, too, but immediately afterwards she had an uneasy feeling, for this man was a thorn in the eye of her boss.

There were a few things that made him mad, and one thing was that he did not like the divers offering courses, earning money, and not buying anything from him.

The snack bar was exactly where the deepest part of the lake was in the immediate vicinity and this attracted of course the divers. In the past four seasons, many regular guests had formed, but of course there were many who did not come. Those who had their food and drinks with them or those who left immediately afterwards.

Since everything happened in the immediate vicinity, under the nose of her boss, of course, he was annoyed about it.

Maria did not care. First, she was not involved in sales, and second, the divers were not obliged to buy anything from him.

 

Well, however ...

The one who was just heading for the snack bar had not often been there in the past few years and Maria watched the scene unfolding before her eyes.

She had to chuckle inside as she looked at the two men.

Leo, that was the name of the diver, was maybe two or three years younger than her boss, but maybe half the weight, and when the boss positioned himself behind the window, Maria had to swallow.

"You're just right, we're closing. I can not imagine that you want to have anything else, you do not usually come, "the older one snapped.

"Ok. No problem, then I'll go back, "Leo replied calmly and turned around.

"But I'll tell you one more thing," he called after him.

It was like a car accident where you just could not look away.

"I think it's a bottomless impudence. Be glad I do not report you!"

"Why?" Leo asked, puzzled.

There followed a loud discussion, because the envy was something terrible. Leo ran a diving school, like some others. Like the one who was eating ribs a few days ago. But that was different, because he had finally consumed and was treated nicely.

Leo gave Maria one last look and she was sure that he had been there the last time. When she went back to the snack bar, her boss justified herself again but Maria was glad when he finally closed the snack.


	14. Chapter 14

Maria worked for the 14th day in a row, and always at least ten hours.

It was exhausting. And that was not just cooking. It was exhausting to endure her boss every day and very often she had to bite her tongue to say nothing.

"I have some good news. Once again I slept very well after a long time."

Maria immediately noticed that he was in a good mood. She did not ask, knowing that he could not keep secrets to himself for long.

She put the apricot cake on the counter and turned on the grill.

_'Did not you have a cramp in your foot today?'_

"Jenny will start working for me again next year."

One of Maria's eyebrows shot up and she looked at him questioningly.

Jenny had worked with him a long time ago. Back then, when he had a restaurant on another lake, which had unfortunately been devastated by the flood.

Maria remembered the time when she met Jenny. That was all else, but not a good start.

 

Four years ago, before she started working for her current boss, she was unemployed for a short time.

She was at a restaurant during a rehearsal day. The first two hours were quite pleasant, until suddenly with a swing the kitchen door was pushed open and an older woman stormed in. It was not just the difficulties in understanding that worried Maria, because the woman was Thai. But also the way she treated Maria was not the fine kind. Actually she said nothing but rather shouted and commanded her and Maria felt like a little child. No, she could not and did not want to work with this person.

The topic had settled and she was glad to not have to see Jenny anymore.

A few weeks after officially opening the snack, Maria heard a voice.

This voice was unmistakable and even when she was standing by the stove and this person was standing six meters away at the ice dispenser, Maria jumped.

"That may not be true," she murmured and heard that her boss had gone outside and hugged Jenny. "And they still know each other?!"

The superhammer came yet. After her boss had informed the cook which role Jenny played, she offered to help out now and then. On weekends and on stressful days, when she had time. In the first year was a good cook in the restaurant and there was not so much to do there.

Because, the previous owners had done a great job and scared away pretty much all the guests.

In addition, the restaurant was a bit hidden and it took until the repute was restored, until people knew that a new takeover had taken place and everything had settled down.

 

So Jenny worked in the snack bar. With Maria. And that was hard for Maria. Because Jenny wanted to do everything as she wanted, but Maria had her own line. She also had a loud, squeaky voice and you had to ask a few times to even understand her. Maria was not snitching, but that was not a condition and she sought the conversation with her boss.

"Yes, Jenny ..." he played down the situation and shrugged. "She is just like that."

The older of the two wanted to grab everything and Maria was her kitchen helper, so to speak.

"Either you're talking to her and she shuts down three gears and I mean the volume of her voice, but that's the way we'll never get on a green branch!"

Maria gave him the option, because that was not what she had imagined.

She also had 20 years of gastronomy experience and was therefore treated by no one like an apprentice. There were a few moments when the two clashed.

Jenny did not have a car at the time and one evening it was so late that there was no bus left.

"Can you bring Jenny home, I have to go to the restaurant and that will take longer," her boss said and put a bill to Maria.

She was not thrilled, but she did it. For money you did a lot.

It did not stay that way and Maria played taxi several more times.

The two women had some clarifying conversations and Jenny realized that she was the one who had to submit to Mary. The two did not become friends, but they could work together and understood each other better and better.

By now, Jenny had been a fixture for four years. On the weekend. But in the restaurant. Maria had the snack for herself again. She admired Jenny for her kind, because the way she talked to her boss and often put him in his place, Maria had never dared.

 

_'That's not granted you, but good. So at least you do not need to worry about the restaurant'_

The next positive message he told her was that Nim, one of the helpers, was on vacation during the time Alex was away. She also learned that Alex was doing a computer course again and that he would start again in September. But she did not believe that until it happened.

_'That would be too good to be true'_

But Maria was a pessimist, and the past had shown her often enough that fate often thwarted.

"That would be a little less worried," she said and a small smile appeared on her lips.

It was not like Maria did not like working in the restaurant. On the contrary. It was also stressful from time to time, but not as stressful as in the snack bar. It was rather the case that she did not want to go back and forth all the time and certainly not when there were hundreds of cars on the lake.

 

Maria had been at work for three minutes, clearing the things her boss had bought, scurrying out into the garden, opening the sun shades, and chalking up the day's menu on the blackboard.

"Sounds good, I'll get one, please," a young man suddenly said behind her.

Maria looked at the clock and answered: "Yes, but it takes a while."

"How long?" He asked impatiently.

_'Until it is finished. I was just waiting for you to make your food right away'_

Inwardly, she rolled her eyes.

"It's now past eleven. Go for a swim."

_'I have nothing else to do!'_

The first two years she had always done the guests' requests immediately. But Maria was not a machine and just needed a little time to prepare everything in peace.

She knew that if she started cooking now, the others would come and the chaos would be perfect again. Also, there was no food in any inn before 11am.

She poured the water into the meadow and saw her boss getting into the car.

"Be right back."

Yes, that, 'I'll be right back', she knew and hardly was she in the snack, even the first people came for a coffee.

"Who makes the good cake?"

"Guilty," Maria smiled and put a piece on the plate.

"Tell me the recipe."

"I can not, otherwise you will not come back," she grinned, slamming the lid off the cash register.

"It's getting so high, I can not do it."

"I can only reveal so much. I throw everything together and bake it at less degrees, but longer."

The cake she made for four years was a baking mix. Maria just had to add oil and water, and put the fruit on it.

It could not be otherwise. Maria made four baking sheets every day. On good days more. And there was always a shortage of staff anyway ... It just would not work, because Maria had only two hands.

 

In the meantime, the ice delivery came. Peter had been wiping the tables in the garden for half an hour, and was in no hurry.

"Always you have to kick him in the ass," she murmured to herself and then yelled out the window: "Peter, please accept the ice delivery!"

Judith came in an hour and Maria had to see that everything was ready for lunch.

"See you then," the supplier called out to her and was almost out of the door.

"Happy weekend," Maria yelled after him and he came back again and frowned.

"We have only Wednesday!"

Both laughed. Maria had lost the overview. No wonder, if you had no regular working hours.

 

As already mentioned, there were some things that made the boss mad and on that day, some of them happened. Maria once again set out to read negative comments in Facebook. But in part she had to agree with her boss.

Only, he could say that in a different way. But this heat bothered everyone.

The first incident happened, of course, in the greatest stress.

Maria heard that a young woman was standing by the window asking him to warm up the baby food jar for her daughter. Granted, Maria hated that as well.

She remembered the one time two years ago. Well, it was her own fault.

At that time, it was a carrot pudding and everyone knew microwaves for the hospitality industry, knew that they were a lot stronger than those for home use.

She had the glass inside for half a minute and then the microwave had to be cleaned.

If nothing else was going on, she did it without hesitation. But if there was a stress anyway, both microwaves were full, and then she had to take care that this shit pudding was warm, but not too hot ... That was annoying.

And if these people only came to warm things and did not consume anything, her boss did not like it.

"My child is hungry now and not in fifteen minutes!" The woman called.

"How do you imagine that? Should we buy another device for the children to have a hot meal? Take a kettle with you!"

Well, the young woman pulled away angrily snorting and her boss pulled her into a ridiculousness in front of the other guests.

The next thing he did not like when people ordered something. Take away.

But in the end took a seat in the garden and ate there.

"It costs the same. You said you want to take it with you? So bye!"

If someone ordered a toast or sausage and then asked for cutlery, or worse, if they themselves took the cutlery. He saw red.

"Where is there such a thing? We are not in the hotel. If you come with the suit, instead of the swimming trunks, then there is also a cutlery! Otherwise, you will eat it with your hands, just like any normal person!"

You had to imagine it that way.

There was a large window for the order acceptance. In front of it stood the people and behind it, the boss at the cash register. If he took a couple of steps to the left, he was standing in front of the drinks facility, where Peter was always important (which her boss did not like, but he said nothing). Peter then just had to take a step to the left to stand at the next window, where the output for the ice was. When her boss stood at the cash register and turned to the right, there was the coffee machine, the cake, bread and rolls. There was also a window there for the food distribution. When Maria finished the meal, she put it on the wide windowsill and screamed into the garden. The people then picked it up.

Two steps to the right, then was Maria's kingdom. Four gas plates, a gas grill, two fryers and a convection oven. When she turned around there was a large work surface. Behind it was the washing-up. Each 'area' was separated by refrigerators. Although the people had a good look into the snack bar and could watch Maria cooking, but they did not see everything. But they did not, the boss made sure.

 

"You do not need to ask the guests if it tasted good," he told Judith, who had complimented Maria. "Clear the empty dishes and get in here again."

"I'm happy about every compliment," Maria replied.

"And if people complain?"

"Then they do it anyway. Thank god very rare," she replied snippily.

Sure, he did not like the fact that everyone loved Maria so much.

She was also often invited by her guests to have a drink, and she gladly accepted that.

And suddenly, every time one of the guests stood by the window praising the food, he yelled through the snack bar. "You have to tell my cook. Maria come here!"

That was embarrassing. He made himself ridiculous and Maria also with it.

She just shook her head, on the fact that her boss had zero feeling. It may be that he himself did not notice. He just had a dry sense of humor that not all people understood. And to be honest, that annoyed her.

 

Because Maria cooked more than one meal, it often happened that the window sill was full of plates.

"Does the salad belong there?" This question came often.

"The salad is definitely not for toast, or did you pay for it?"

Of course, it also happened that the guests who had ordered earlier, only later got their food, because neither she nor her boss had time, and another was faster.

But Maria was of the opinion that with a numbering system there would be even more chaos. It worked for 'McDonalds & Co', but you would have needed someone to take care that everything went smoothly.

"If you do not always pay attention ..." he mumbled, shaking his head.

_'Yeah, the way I always have to be careful if you hang the orders upside down!'_

But Maria had given up saying anything, because it only cost nerves. Her nerves.

In the afternoon it was a little quieter.

Her boss and Peter were talking all the time. About earlier times ... And Maria had to listen to it all. Judith certainly understood only a fraction of that, because she was from Romania.

But she understood what Mary told her, even if she had to repeat it many times.

"You can take that as a compliment," she said, laying a hand on Judith's shoulder as she made pancakes.

"Never in the four years has anyone else but me made the pancakes."

"Let alone touch her pan," her boss intervened and Maria chuckled.

Yes, that was Maria's pan. It was important that no one scratched pots and pans with a knife or sharp object. She preferred to do that herself.

She hated scratched pans. Maria knew what they looked like in the restaurant because nobody was paying attention and everybody was sloppy.

 

Orderliness, meticulousness, cleanliness and proper handling of inventory and food were always important to her and for the first time in four years she felt that she had found someone in Judith who shared and understood that.

And even if you did not do that normally, Maria thought of courting Judith if she needed someone in her restaurant.

Because the two women got along very well.

Of course, she had needed her training period and Maria had not only told her the difference between the different dishes three times.

But she was patient and she liked that she did not have to tell Judith every move.

When she made a cordon bleu, the plate of cranberries and lemon was ready.

If a pancake with ice was ordered, she already had the vanilla ice cream in her hand.

When she made spaetzle, the older woman got the ham and finished the salad without Maria having to say it. She jumped to the side and let the redhead go to the sink when she saw that Maria wanted to wash her hands.

Judith made sure that Maria always had a clean work surface, she wrapped the cutlery when she had nothing to do. She swept, cleaned or wiped and always asked if she could help with anything.

This was the first time in four years that the cook could rely on someone without always having to keep an eye on the person.

Delegate, Maria was never good at that. That's why she mostly did everything herself. It went faster and you did not have to explain anything.

 

In the early evening Judith was allowed to go and Peter 'took over' her work.

Peter was a few years younger than Judith but three times as slow.

"There's not much going on for so many people on the lake," her boss muttered.

"I'm not bored," Maria replied as she dried the glasses.

She was glad that there was not so much going on, so she could do everything in peace and refill. No one touched a finger except her.

The snack was only a snack, but on the level of a restaurant.

There were thirty different dishes on the menu, and though Maria had a fair grip on everything, she still wanted a few extra hands.

There was room for just over 100 people in the large garden.

Around the lake there were seven other restaurants, including the chef's second restaurant, but over the four years the snack bar had built a reputation and the other venues were no competitors. Without wanting to specify, but most people were always with them.

Peter stood by the ice dispenser and stared holes in the air.

Three napkins blown to the ground by the wind had been between the two men for ten minutes, but everyone was too lazy to stoop.

 

"Can I go with the garbage?" Peter asked.

"Sure, get the two garbage pails from outside, throw everything together and then you can go," Maria replied.

He had done that. They were standing outside the door, because he had remembered one thing.

The two of them stood outside all day and were not allowed in the snack bar before they were sprayed with a spray. Maria did not want to have ants or other small animals in the snack bar.

Until now she had always done that, because Peter told her that only she could.

Yes, because he was too lazy. Maria made a bet with herself, whether she would manage to leave this job to Peter.

Shaking her head she looked after him, as he passed the trash cans for the tenth time, but made no move to do anything.

_'And I will not do it either!'_

"Are they already washed?", He asked a few moments later when he stood at the dishwasher.

_'Every time. Every damn time you ask me that!'_

"Feel it. If it is warm, then it is washed. "

"Not warm anymore."

_'Right. I also washed it ten minutes ago. Too lazy to turn the cup around to see if it's clean or dirty ...'_

"I will not tear your head off if you wash it again, even if it's already washed. Conversely, it would be more problematic."

Shaking her head she went to the window and looked into the garden.

If Judith was doing the dishes, it was always pretty wet. On the floor, on the work surfaces ... But she always wiped it up.

If Peter was doing the dishes, then he did not care and Maria had no nerves to say anything. He took the dripping glasses, went through half the snack and set them down on the other side. Then he went back, through the drops of water that were on the ground ...

"Can you tell him to dry the glasses? It's not like he does not have the time!"

Of course, her boss did not say anything.

"Do you still need Peter, otherwise I'll send him home."

"I have not needed him for hours."

_'I do not know why he's still there anyway. You can hardly call this work what it does. Get money for doing nothing. But on the other hand, every penny is important to you!'_

"But before he leaves, he will still go with the garbage. Because I do not do that today."

Of course, her boss said nothing and he did not send him home and guess what ...

Maria did that. A little louder than necessary.

And she could not look that fast, Peter had taken the bag out of her hand and was already heading for the garbage place.

"He probably does not know that."

"After three months? After watching me a hundred times? "She asked sarcastically when Peter was out of earshot. "Naturally!"


	15. Chapter 15

'Hey honey, when are you coming?'

'It does not take too long'

'Come as fast as you can, I long for you'

'Must go shower before, I stick like a bubble gum'

'There's room for two in my shower'

Maria chuckled softly when she got the message.

"Are you still going to the restaurant?" Her boss asked as he turned off the light.

"No," she answered.

_'It's enough to work countless hours with you every day, I do not have to do that after work'_

Maria had the next day off because it was her birthday.

Even though her boss was an ass, but on her birthday he always managed to keep her free.

Even if it had 104°F But then she had the double stress on the next working day because she had to fix everything again so that she could work.

But especially this year, she gladly accepted that. After all, she could spend a day with Gabriel.

Sometimes she wondered how it was possible to leave such a chaos in such a short time.

Even though there were days when the weather did not really know what it wanted.

Then, when he decided not to open the snack, and released Maria. What he also could not stand, and then unlocked and told her the next day how much he had done. Even if Maria was not thrilled if he let her come on such days only for four or five hours,

Still, Maria preferred that rather than leaving her in a mess.

 

"... missed so ... love you ...", he mumbled between greedy kisses, when an hour later Maria rang at the door, he opened it, pulled her in and pushed her against the wall.

As he kissed down her neck, her clothes flew to the floor.

Maria ran her fingers along his spine and drew a choppy gasp from him, before pushing her towards the shower.

"Fuck!" Maria screamed and got to work on the temperature regulator.

"I thought women love hot showers. Do you know why? It reminds them of hell, where they come from, "he chuckled and for that he got a light slap on his bottom.

"You're pretty naughty. This has an aftermath, "she laughed and splashed water in his face.

"I would rather prefer a foreplay."

"Oh yes?"

Tenderly, she grabbed his neck and pulled him close. Teased him with her tongue, stroking his lips a few times, then withdrew.

"You're beautiful," he smiled as he looked her up and down.

His piercing eyes made her blush and goose bumps formed on her body as he began to lovingly soap his Maria.

"It will not take long," she said with a frown, as Gabe sat down on the couch and knocked on his thighs.

And that was right. Gabe's tender touches, his fingers stroking her hair, and the regular heartbeat she heard and felt clearly made her eyes not stay open for long.

 

He looked at her with a smile. He still could not believe his luck. He had a wife who loved him and soon began their new, shared life.

The move was almost completed, Maria's apartment was re-rented during the next week. And Gabriel's was already back on the market.

With the opening of their restaurant, the two were not in a hurry, because each of them was still in employment.

_'New Year'_

He nodded slightly at the thought.

_'New Year would be a good time'_

He was sure he wanted to spend his life with this woman.

"Are you watching me sleep?" Maria growled, eyes closed.

"Guilty," he grinned and kissed her on the temple.

She made a half turn on him and put her head back on his chest, hugged him and pressed tight against him.

A trembling breath broke out of his throat and Maria grinned quietly into his T-shirt when she felt something pretty hard on her thigh. She raised her head.

"I have a birthday tomorrow, but I want to unpack my present now."

With a nod, she gestured toward the bedroom and Gabe grinned.

 

"Good morning and a wonderful birthday, my sunshine."

Maria opened her eyes and looked into sparkling gold. A pleasant shudder passed through her body and she wondered if she had ever seen such beautiful eyes.

Gabriel could not bake. That did not mean that he had not gotten a small cake for his sweetheart.

"Blow it out and wish you something," he said as he lit the candle.

"You joker!" She laughed as it flared up again and again.

Although the candle was not blown out, she still hoped her wish would come true. She wanted success in her own restaurant and that her love would last forever.

"I love you," she whispered in his ear and hugged him.

"And I love you," he replied, kissing her tenderly and then looking at the clock.

 

The two had decided on a relaxing day in the spa, because above all Maria felt every bone in her body.

"You still get the massage from me today," he whispered in her ear and pulled her by the hand as she stopped in front of the glass door.

"That sounds great," she smirked and wiggled her eyebrows.

She jumped in the water on his hips and let herself be carried through the water.

"Do not overdo it!" He warned and pushed her slightly away, because he sensed that something was trying to make room in his swimming trunks.

"I'm a water element and that has a very tingling ... erotic ... appealing effect on me," she whispered as she slowly returned to the object of her desire.

Her fingers had already clawed back into his hair and Gabe moaned softly and with his eyes closed, as first their lips touched and then their tongues.

He always had the feeling of floating and it was increasingly difficult for him to control himself.

"Maria," he whispered, clutching her hips.

"I love you," she replied, letting her teeth run down his neck, giving small pecks on his face.

When then also her hands strayed in his swimming trunks and stroked his bare ass, kneading and scratching slightly, he pushed her again from him.

"Please. Give me a few minutes," he gasped and swam away.

Maria loved to confuse him. But that gave her the opportunity to relax for a few minutes, because this situation was also not without trace past her.

She lay down on one of the underwater massage benches and enjoyed with closed eyes the tingling sensation of the jets on her body.

 

Suddenly she sensed someone was gripping her ankles, and she could barely catch her breath as this someone pulled her off the bench and put her in an upright position.

As she gasped and panting opened her eyes again, she saw some distance away her boyfriend, who laughed badly.

"Well wait, you scoundrel," she mumbled, swimming toward him.

They both fooled around like little children, swallowing a lot of water, and finally lay breathless in their arms.

 

The evening ended with a glass of champagne or two ... maybe more. Anyway, Maria was a little drunk and Gabriel was tipsy too.

He loved exploring every inch of his girlfriend's wonderful body. With his lips, his tongue and his fingers.

Maria was like wax in his hands and he massaged with pressure, sometimes with less, but with all the more feeling.

"Thanks for a wonderful birthday," she whispered as they lay side by side, looking at each other in love.

"You deserve it. You deserve much more and I hope that I can be the one who can give you all this one day."

"You already do. You are my rock and my hold and always there for me, thanks for that."

"I love you. Thank you for being with me."

Maria had wet eyes and was glad that the light was off. She snuggled closer to Gabriel, purring softly as he petted her back, and it was not long before she was in the land of dreams.

 

"Damn that heat," Maria groaned as the snack bar opened.

For two weeks, the heat was merciless. And then that poor girl had to stand by the stove and the fry all the time.

For a week now Judith was with her and knew the process. Maria did not have to say anything, because everything went hand in hand. It was just great to work like that.

Less great, she found what Peter already performed again. Like every day, Maria only had half an hour to prepare everything before the stress started. If any ...

She saw her boss drive away again. Of course, he did not say where he was going nor when he would come back.

Peter was about to sort the money into the cash register when the first people came to the window.

"The boss is not there yet, there's nothing", she heard him say and slammed the door from the fridge. Before she reached the front, the people were gone again.

_'You can not do that either!'_

He continued unerringly and Maria hurried.

Since it was always a lottery game when she had time for it, she decided to make two cakes right away. Of course, she was interrupted again as she diligently stirred the dough.

"Can you make a coffee? How much is an orange juice? The lady wants a toast. Can you cashier this?"

Maria wondered if she should say 'boss' to him now if he so commanded her.

"Where is the boss? Does he work in the restaurant today? ", Maria asked annoyed.

It was always the same.

"Write down what you poured so that he can then credit the items to the cash register."

"Um ... what was that all about?"

 

"Good Peter, you have done well."

Half an hour later, her boss came back and Maria wondered why he was not stroking his head like a dog and throwing him a treat, because he had done so fine. Shaking her head, she went back to her cake.

"Can not you tell Peter to go to the garden, then Judith can stay here with me. I need her! "Maria muttered to her boss.

"Yes, Peter is a bit absent today," was his reaction.

_'Today? He was never present!'_


	16. Chapter 16

It was not Maria's way and she never wanted it to end this way. She wanted to break up with her boss, in a good way, but he did not make it easy for her.

Maria was a person who could take a lot, and it took a great deal to overflow the barrel. But at some point, the point was reached where everything broke out.

It was a slow process, but gradually she lost the respect for her boss.

What she liked about her job was that she had 80% free hand. She was responsible for ensuring that everything went smoothly with the food.

Even if her boss treated her sometimes like an apprentice.

But the times she had said to all 'yes' and 'amen', were over.

"We have to cook a soup again in the next few days. Have you ever done one?"

"No boss, I've only been working with you for a day!"

This, 'Why are you asking me that shit, I'm 20 years a cook- look she had become quite well in stock.

"Today's dish salad 'Nicose'. Do you know what that is? If you have cut many steaks, then you can make a cordon bleu out of it. Do you know how that works? If you cut the cucumbers and do not marinate, they last longer, did you know that?"

It was Sunday and Maria's working day started at 9 am. The temperature was still fairly pleasant, but she soon started to sweat a little later, as she knocked 50 schnitzels for the dish of the day and breaded it. She hoped that would have animated the guests and she did not have to cook a thousand other things.

It was a very successful day, but of course her boss was not happy with the sales.

_'If I were involved in sales, these problems might interest me ...'_

"Yesterday I had to cook when I sent Alex home. Actually, like every day. Always the same. But no matter."

_'If it does not matter, do not always rub it under my nose. What do you want to hear from me? Oh, I'm so sorry?! You're the boss and if you say there's no food at 8 pm, that's it._ _Do not always lament my ears! Greed is something terrible'_

Maria had to bite her tongue so hard not to say her thoughts out loud.

"Peter does not want to go home at all, I said an hour ago he can go. He probably smelled the money."

"Feat. Is also easy money. Selling a little popsicle, pouring some drinks, chattering and when he's in a good mood, he occasionally goes to the garden and clears the dishes," she answered snappishly.

Judith was about to make a salad and Maria was standing by the stove when they heard a loud bang and winced. The big table was back in the snack bar and Peter, who had just come in from outside, had bumped into it and it was collapsing.

"Respect. No one has done that in the entire four years. Good thing all the dishes are always on my work surface, rather than on the table for which this one is here," she said sarcastically.

And what did Peter do? Instead of picking up a broomstick and sweeping up the whole mess of shards, salads, and cutlery, he flipped over to the other side, seeking refuge with the boss, leaving Judith to do the work, which was already busy.

That made Maria mad, but she did not say anything because she knew how else Peter would have reacted. He would have gone. And Maria would be guilty again.

Her boss said no sound and also Peter behaved unusually quiet.

When Maria briefly went to the toilet and looked at the stock of food in the storage room, she came back angrily and slammed a bucket with potato salad on the work surface.

"This one was over there. Should normally be kept cool and not at 104°F!"

As she opened the refrigerator, she found the same bucket of mustard. Of course, Peter had swapped the two. Would have been too much to ask if he had read the label.

"If I do not look, then we can throw this one away," she mumbled, tasting the salad, which luckily was impeccable.

Her boss was shopping yesterday and Peter had brought the things to the storeroom.

What did her boss do? Nothing. Well that was not quite true, because when Peter was out of earshot, he blasphemed just about him.

_'But say nothing to him personally. Otherwise, you would be the bad guy!'_

"You can not ask for money for the tap water ... The woman has circulatory problems!"

Maria listened and wondered if that was such a big topic last year, because if so, then she had not noticed.

"Every shower has a water pipe. I'll give you a plastic bottle, then you can pour 100 liters," her boss replied irritably.

"Can you drink that?"

"Yes, what do you think? Otherwise, people would hardly shower if it was not drinking water!"

Maria thought back to the experience two years ago. Her boss almost freaked out. Anyway, his blood was boiling.

In the truest sense of the word, that was a commitment. And all that sirens had was there.

An old man was missing and the guess was that he had drowned.

The irony of the whole story was that at lunchtime he sat in the outdoor dining area in front of the most expensive dish on the menu.

Sarcastic people would have said that he had chosen just the right thing for the hangman's meal. Anyway, that had her boss said.

It was one of the hottest days of the year and it was packed at the lake.

All parking was full and then came the emergency vehicles. In any case, nobody could drive away at this time, because everything was almost on top of each other.

"There they all stand and gawk on the lake. If they would buy at least something," her boss grumbled, but he and Maria also stood by the window and watched.

Countless divers searched everything, but no one was found at that time.

"I know that. If they can not find him, then we can write off the next few days. It can be such a hot day, no one will go swimming when a body is in the water."

Maria had no idea how that ended, but her boss explained. No idea if that was true or not because her boss was also a descendant of the 'Baron von Münchhausen'.

Anyway, he said that if the rescue team found him, they would tie him up somewhere, and not pull him out until it was quiet in the evening. So that none of the bathing guests would get a shock.

And then, because it was about 'water', eight of the rescue workers came and wanted a glass of water. Thankfully, common sense told him that he could not ask for money from these people. But you could imagine that this had disturbed him extremely.

"If we have more such people, then we can lock up!"

But he had not been able to resist this comment.

In the evening Conny came with his wife, who was 25 years younger and had her 50th birthday the day before. Of course, she got her food for free, her boss played disc jockey again and crawled her so deep in the ass that ... oh, you know.

"He can now take the two buckets with the moldy coffee!"

Maria liked Conny, but she hated Romana, his wife.

She seemed to feel better anyway and had never learned to greet her.

It was now just before 8 pm and Conny was eating a bread garnished with bacon.

"What do you want, my dear?" Her boss whispered and Maria gagged dryly at the dishwasher.

"I'll eat later, with your mother in the restaurant," she replied.

"I have already sent the cook home."

"Then I do not want anything."

It was not that she did not want to be cooked by Maria, but that she wanted to dine in the restaurant in a pleasant atmosphere. It was not the first time and Maria was already waiting for the question.

"Would you mind if, after we locked up here, you still go up and cook something for her?"

Maria had been working eleven hours and she was fed up.

"You're not serious, are you?"

Just because her boss was too lazy and Romana imagined that ...

For everyone else ... maybe ...

She already knew why he asked every day if Maria wanted to go. Because guests would come to the restaurant, then Maria would have to do that.

_'No, my dear ...'_

"I can cook it for you now and you will take it with you. You can heat it in the microwave!"

"No, I do not want that," she replied defiantly, as Maria had spoken so loud that she heard it too.

_'Then forget it ... '_


	17. Chapter 17

It was just before 11am and the thermometer already showed 89.6°F.

For this day, 98.6°F were predicted and thus ended the heat wave. Because according to weather forecast, it cooled the next day extremely. Maria was sure that no one was more pleased than herself. It was the 18th day without a break and it was exhausting.

The heat was exhausting. The work was exhausting. The people were exhausting and her boss was exhausting.

The lake was full, which meant that not many people were swimming in the water, but the meadows were full and the cars were criss-crossing.

"Luckily, two parking spaces in front of the snack bar are reserved for 'guests'," Maria said, blinking. Of course, often parked other people and of course, her boss was upset about it. For the past several years he'd handled his bus across both parking lots so there was not room for another car.

Now the bus was broken and he asked Maria to stand there.

"Only if there is no free space anywhere else," she said at the time.

Of course she preferred to stand in the meadow, in the shade of the trees, as in the blazing sun.

"Hey, good that you're back," one of the regulars shouted and waved to her.

"Where else should I be in the weather?" She laughed back.

 

"Hey Maria, what should I do?", Judith greeted already at the door.

"Let me arrive first. Do you have your skates with you? It could be burning today, and I'm not just talking about air, "she smirked.

Maria wanted to have as little stress as possible today and prepared everything in no time.

"Do I already get a dish of the day?" One of the regulars shouted through the window.

Maria looked at the clock. "I can give you a piece of paper, then you can draw it," she replied and he laughed. "Go for another round and come in half an hour, then we can talk about it."

"Please, please," she muttered to herself as she was about to cut the meat. "Please let me finish."

It was not granted to her, she got a bit nervous and had to be careful not to cut herself when she heard the machine rattle already.

 _'Damn shit'_ , she cursed inwardly, because it was already going on at half past twelve.

She juggled with pans, threw things in the deep fry, kept throwing water on the hot grill to get it clean, and thanked God for never seriously hurt herself. Granted, it was a bit careless. But it was busy and the slower it got, the harder it became to meet everyone's needs. Because the line of people did not stop.

One more thing that made her boss mad when someone ordered something by a window, then went to the other window and waited.

"We are fast, but not so fast then again. We're cooking fresh, or do you want the food from yesterday? "He said to the man.

"Sit down, relax your limbs, you are called."

Not five minutes later, the next one did the same.

"If you wait for that, it takes even longer. Because my cook does not like that."

"Why does she get nervous when someone is watching you?" He asked sassy.

"No, but I do not like being stressed," Maria replied with a knife in her hand and she and her boss giggled as the man sat down quickly.

When she looked at the clock, it was just past one and she did not even have time to fetch herself a water. In the end, she was proud of herself, because she did not have much time to prepare and to do almost everything out of 'nothing' was already an achievement.

 

"Was Erich there?"

Maria shook her head.

"He came to meet me earlier when I drove to the restaurant. Did not he come here?"

_'I would not come here if I were him!'_

Erich was one of his oldest friends. Maria had her start-up difficulties in recent years, because he also had a sense of humor that not everyone understood. But now the two got on well.

He was a cook himself, now retired and was sometimes so nice and brought small samples.

Last year he had made a homemade sauce that was extremely spicy. Because Max, like to eat hot.

This year he brought back a few things. But the boss blasphemed every time about Erich, if he could not hear it anymore.

For the spicy sauce he had made did not taste good to Max. It was not hot enough for him. Good-natured as Erich was, he made a new one.

But even this was not spicy enough for Max. It was said that her boss had not even tasted it. But when Max said it did not taste, it had to be ... Her boss had even called Erich.

"Guests say you should start drinking again, so you can cook something decent again," he called into the phone.

Maria could only shake her head. It was really embarrassing how he had performed himself.

No idea if that would increase his potency if he acted that way in the presence of Max.

If he knew how the boss talked about him, if he was not there ... he would not come back.

_'Yes, if this continues, only your drinking buddies will remain. I do not want to imagine where that leads'_

And Maria was glad she did not have to.

 

Even though she fought on all fronts, she learned that Judith was not feeling well that day. It was no wonder. She also worked a few days in a row, was no longer the youngest, and the cook admirably loved what she managed.

And then it suddenly broke off. For twenty minutes, not one came to the window and ordered something. Except for ice. Ice, that was always bought.

"But the main thing is, they fucked me for two hours now," Maria growled, and Judith asked, because the Rumanian did not understand.

"Oh, it fits."

 

Then the drain was clogged while washing dishes. Had not been there in the past four years, because Maria was always behind it, that everything ran smoothly.

She had already told Judith twice how to handle the dishes.

Each time again, the strainer was not in the drain that was supposed to catch the leftovers.

Now they had the salad. But Maria had repaired it quickly and urged her to do better.

"But I have ..."

To talk back. That hated Maria. It all started ...

"Where are the teaspoons?" The boss shouted and Maria repeated it again, because Judith was a little bit out of touch that day.

Then she came with the reserve and wanted to unpack it.

"Wait," Maria called, pointing to the bucket of cutlery. "Wash and polish. The reserve cutlery is for the reserve. Now we have time for it. Please do it."

Judith grunted, but did. The next were the glasses.

"Guys, if there's time, the glasses will be polished as well, and not put back there dripping wet."

"But it's so busy ..."

"No, because that does not take three minutes. It has always worked and it will continue to work."

 

Friends of Judith sat in the garden and of course she had her head somewhere else.

In the mixed toast were instead of four slices of cheese and ham only two ... Judith forgot to make the pancake warm. She suddenly did not know anymore how to make a meat sandwich and threw two plates on the floor due to her imprudence.

She whined that it was exhausting ... She complained that she had so much work at home and Maria went outside to smoke a cigarette.

 

When she returned, she went to her boss.

"Send Judith home, otherwise I'll flinch today!"

Although she knew that she could do everything herself again and possibly cursed herself for it, but she simply could not stand the whining of Judith anymore.

It was also exhausting for Maria. Not only did she have to focus on her work, but keep an eye on Judith, who did everything wrong on that day. And that's exactly what happened, because she was not gone ten minutes when it started all over again.

 

In a quiet minute she went to the garden to get some fresh air. Because the air in the snack bar was hard to bear despite the extractor hood. All the windows were open, but the air was still. There was no wind.

"How do you keep that out?" Eva asked, one of the regulars.

"What exactly do you mean now?" She smirked.

"Inside there."

"I am glad that we have air conditioning in the snack bar. Otherwise it would be unbearable," she replied cheekily and all who heard it laughed.

"No seriously. Somehow you get used to it. But it feels good to come out again."

 

"Peter's getting on my nerves today," her boss muttered as he was in the garden. "Do you still need him, otherwise I'll send him home. Sneak around like a zombie."

"I have not needed him for hours," Maria replied, because he made more nonsense than that he was a help.

"Peter, you still make the two iced coffee and then you can go."

Nobody knew how he did it, but suddenly the cream was on the window of the fourth window instead of on the coffee.

_'You will clean that'_

Yes, he had licked it once with the wet cloth, but Maria had no more nerve telling him to clean it.

She was glad that he was gone, because she preferred to do everything herself, as to do everything twice.

"Does not the fucking eating today have any end?!"

Maria was done and a bit aggressive. This condition changed when her boss turned up the music.

For now, Maria was really aggressive, and it did not bother her that the glasses clinked as she dried them and put on the work surface louder than necessary.

"Kitchen off," he said at eight in the evening, and Maria breathed in relief.

Five minutes later, four French holidaymakers arrived and ordered four schnitzel.

"Of course we'll do it for you," she heard him say and Maria rolled her eyes.

"When are you locking up?"

"We're in no hurry, because if I lock up, I'll drive to my second place, and then when I send the cook home, I'll have to go back to cooking."

"Poor boss ... you have to cook ...", she mumbled quietly behind the fridge.

"Brave Maria," he whispered, stroking her forearm as she cleaned the drinks facility. "You were great today. May I say that? "

_'Oh, save it!'_

 

"That can not be real. Why do I have to work today?"

Annoyed, Maria sat in the car, slammed the door behind her, strapped on and started the engine.

It did not rain, but it looked like it could start any moment.

Maria knew that the delivery of the ice and the delivery of beer came today, but he could have done that alone?!

"What's that, you bastard!" She scolded as another car hit the street in front of her without blinking.

She would like to go home to her family again today.

But no ...

Judith and Peter had the day off, but Alex had to work too. And all because the boss wanted to go shopping today and not tomorrow.

_'Exactly, and then you send me home after three hours. Not with me. I'll turn that into a rope for you today!'_

On the other hand, she was also glad to have such days to clean up in peace and prepare everything.

She grabbed the ladder and started working on the extractor hood.

"Yuck," she grumbled as she put on the gloves and removed grids for grids.

_'I cleaned it only two weeks ago!'_

Ok, admitted. The last few days she had cooked a lot. Also the oil in the deep fry had to be changed again, ...

 

Suddenly her cell phone rang.

"Great," she murmured as she saw her mom's name on the display.

"I thought you would come today?"

After a renewed discussion, which she had already led too often, she broke the connection on the pretext that someone had come.

She was so tired of it. Maria was annoyed. Her mom kept telling her that she needed to find another job, that she should finally prevail against him and demand a day off.

That this was not a condition, that her boss was an asshole ...

"Mom, not for long. What would you do if I was in Tyrol on season? I would not come home for the entire six months!"

She found the time fitting and decided to tell her next visit what Gabriel and she had planned.

_'Then hopefully the whining will stop!'_

 

When she looked at the clock, it was just before 2pm in the early afternoon.

_'Ok, you should come soon. I will bake two cakes. Waiting time - 1 hour'_

She had pushed the two baking sheets straight into the oven when she heard her boss's car drive up.

Still, she unloaded the car and responded to his questions only briefly.

She had only opened one window in the snack bar and the other only half, because the wind was blowing and since it had actually cooled, it was pretty fresh.

"It's uncomfortable here", her boss said and closed the blind completely. "We will go then."

"No, because I've just got a cake in the oven," she replied and could have sworn to have heard a soft sigh.

There was nothing to do that she could not have done the next day, because she knew that after such a day, when the weather was bad, it would take at least another day for the business to boom again.

But she always had something to do and chuckled at the thought that she had rarely worked so slowly.

The cake was ready and she set both aside for cooling.

In the meantime, her boss had eaten, had already poured the second cider and had given Maria a small box of chocolates.

_'If you think that's all right again ...'_

Maria wondered if she should be so naughty and cook rice. Waiting time - 20 minutes.

Fate decided for her, because two men came.

"You want to eat something?" The boss growled.

"Did you just want to lock up?"

"Does not matter, half an hour up or down ..."

And Maria already had the rice in her hand. After ten minutes, the two left, and the boss went from one foot to the other.

_'Just go! Make a spy visit to the other restaurants. Go to your mother, but just go out of my sight! I do not want to talk to you!'_

He did not do that, but Mary had got what she wanted. Three hours had become five hours, and so the coming had paid off.

"Thanks," he said as he went out, and Maria answered with a nod.


	18. Chapter 18

"Of course you can take the day off on Tuesday," her boss said shortly before the closing time. "If the weather is bad, anyway, and otherwise Peter, me and Judith will manage that."

_'Oh yes? But that has sounded very different recently! '_

 

You could set the clock after that, because it was the same every time. If the weather was bad the day before, it would take at least a day for people to come back. And it was the same on Saturday.

Bright blue sky, pleasant temperatures, but no people.

"Did you have free yesterday?" Judith asked her colleague.

"Tz," she snorted, shaking her head and throwing the wet dishcloth on the dishwasher.

"But nothing happened, right?"

Again the redhead shook her head.

"Because of Thursday ...", the older one started while Maria cut the meat.

"Let's forget it, Judith. We were all stressed, you know that ... ", Maria smiled and Judith nodded.

As mentioned, nothing was going on. And since her boss had once again fallen for the shopping spree the day before and had bought meat that could have fed a whole company, they decided to make Schnitzel again for the next day as a dish of the day.

Since Judith wanted to go home after two hours and nobody had anything against it and since Maria did not want to talk to her boss anyway and she knew that would make him mad when she knocked 50 Schnitzel, she did just that.

_'Would you get me a wood chopping block, it would not be as loud as a plastic board'_

After a quarter of an hour Maria's hand hurt as she did not squeamishly deal with the dead meat. Her boss searched the distance and spun a spy round around the lake.

_'Then I'll take a break too'_

As soon as she heard her boss's car drive up again, the knocking continued.

_'The day is like chewing gum'_

Maria did not feel like cleaning anything, but still managed to get up, because she could not do 'nothing'.

She defrosted all three freezers and cleaned all the refrigerators.

The next time she looked at the clock, she could not believe it, because not even an hour had passed.

Her boss had someone to talk to, but as usual the two men faced each other. Her boss in the snack bar and the other in front of the window. And they talked and talked and talked.

 

Sunday.

It had already begun with her boss pouring Maria's coffee into the cold coffee for the iced coffee.

She was busy preparing for half an hour, so the coffee was almost always cold. That did not bother her. It had already become a ritual that he always made her a cup of coffee at the beginning. Even if she did not need it, she drank it.

When she was done, she wanted to drink the coffee and saw her boss on the refrigerator with the cup in his hand.

"I thought you did not drink it," he said somewhat guiltily.

"Until now, I have always done that. I do not care if it's cold. "

Of course she got a new, hot one. But that was not the point.

Throughout the time she could remember, it was never the case that he just poured the coffee away or, in that case, poured it over to the cold coffee for the iced coffee.

 

Maria hated it when nothing was going on. She also hated it when there was too much going on. But in that industry there was no middle-thing.

Peter had gotten free and for the most part now had the boss to take over the sale of the ice himself.

Maria would have had to go through half a snack bar, and Judith was not so proficient in the German language that she would have thought herself doing so.

She was shaking the fries in the frying pan when she heard her boss. Then she peered around the corner, because outside the window there were certainly about fifteen children.

_'Well, if he does not say anything ...'_

She shrugged and returned to her work.

Usually, when there was a big rush, they always managed that together.

One handed out the ice, the other counted and cashed. Thus, it was faster and no one had to wait.

 

Maria stood by the freezer and looked out at the water again.

"Will Judith be free again?" He asked and Maria looked questioningly at him.

"Well, I heard something first."

"She just said it should rain on Tuesday."

"Yes, it fits well. Then I can go shopping in peace. "

"Or give me a day off ..." she replied as she layered the different sorts of ice in the containers.

"You can have the whole week off, all I have to do is talk to Jenny," he snapped.

_'Are you crazy?'_

It was not what he had said, but how he had said it.

And Maria had not asked for a week, but after 22 days, a single, crappy day. The next few days should be hot again, according to the weather forecast.

If there had not been people at the window, Maria might have been tempted to reply. What did she have to lose? Nothing.

If he had put one on top and said that he had been working longer, she would have told him the term 'self-employment', which included the words 'self' and 'constantly'. But he left it, thank God.

"Please," she asked the lady, a bit louder than necessary and gave her boss no further look.

She felt tears of anger rising as she lit a cigarette and leaned against her car.

When she returned to the snack bar, a glass of wine stood on the counter.

She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. It was always the same.

He had a guilty conscience and thought he could make amends.

Quietly she counted to five, because she would have preferred to take the glass and poured it in his face. But she put it aside, in the field of vision of her boss and did not touch it.

_'You are so transparent ...'_

Maria and Judith chatted with each other, softly, because otherwise they would have to take the next complaint, but as soon as her boss said anything, Mary's gaze was icy cold and she answered only briefly and concisely.

Peter was not there and otherwise he had no people to talk to.

_'Poor boss'_

 

And so he tried again and again to pick up the line of conversation, even if it were absurd things in which Mary shook her head inside.

"I did not even ask you, were the grilles of the hood dirty when you cleaned it on Friday?"

What should she answer to this stupid question?

No, I did that for fun? Or. You have eyes in your head and look up a few times every day!?

Since the people who had installed this ventilation had probably worked without a brain, as they had installed the control switches so high up that she could only get there on tiptoe and with the help of a long cooking spoon, a friend and electrician of her boss had it repaired last year and installed a switch into the wall.

That was his favorite toy. Every time, even if it was just that Maria turned on the fryer, he turned the small wheel. That meant he always had his hand near her head. On the one hand, that was exactly what made Maria crazy, and on the other, it was the fact that it was getting louder and louder.

He did not hear that, he finally stood at the window. Maria turned back, her boss turned on again. This game they did a few times a day, until it eventually became too stupid for one of them.

Each time one of the guests ordered something to eat, Maria pricked her ears and almost finished the dishes before her boss put the order on the fridge. No chance, with this noise, to understand something.

 

"Should we change the oil in the deep fryer?"

'We'. That was his favorite word.

_'Who, we? I do all the work alone!'_

"Why? I did that on Friday ?! "

"I just thought because you had both turned on today."

_'Leave thinking to the horses, they have a bigger head!'_

"Of course, if you order five schnitzel with fries in one go, I need more space."

For Maria it was important that the people who ordered together could also eat together.

Sometimes she had the feeling that he was only talking because he liked to hear himself talk.

 

As her wine was already boiling, she gave the glass to Judith and told her to throw it away.

Her boss just came back from his visit to the toilet and asked Maria, who was just filling up the cucumber salad: "Did you pour it away now?"

"Yes," she replied without looking up. "This one does not taste good today."

"I meant it well," he replied.

_'Well, 'well intentioned' means rarely, 'well done'!'_

 

In the early evening, her boss had disappeared once again, two young men came to the window.

Mary was on this day not a single time by the window and had received orders.

Not because she did not have time, but her boss should not always rely on her.

"Do you have french fries?"

"Yes."

"Do you have something else?"

Maria loved this question. Honestly.

"Sure, just turn 180°, there are four blackboards. They are labeled behind and in front. In addition, there are more blackboards on the three walls and we even have a menu, "she smirked ironically, tossing it to him.

The two were already a bit tipsy, but took it with humor.

So long until her boss came to it.

"What do they want?"

"Just asked if we also have something else besides fries," the cook replied and pulled herself back to Judith.

"To my cook you are not naughty! Sit down, menu is at the table," he said, taking away the menu and throwing it at the others.

What was then said, Maria did not understand, but it took less than ten seconds, when ...

"You know what? There is nothing here for you anyway. Get out of here, you miserable wretches. Scram!"

Maria sighed and glanced at Judith, who had not understood a word.

But maybe that was better too.

On Monday, punctually at 9 am in the morning, Maria's cell phone rang.

"Free today and tomorrow," her boss said.

_'Wow. Today, nice weather and I have free?!'_

As much as she tried, but she could not really switch off. Thought about the work.

She tried to distract herself, to clean and iron, because Gabe had time only in the evening.

 

On Tuesday she then went to her family. So that the nagging finally came to an end.

No, not only because of that. She was looking forward to her family.

 

"Make this day once again free, and come tomorrow at 11 am," was the statement of her boss when he called on Wednesday.

"Tomorrow is a holiday," he answered, and he said yes.

"Yesterday it was not nice and today not very special, probably tomorrow will not be much going on. But for my sake you come an hour earlier, "he answered.

_'Yes, or I can quarter tomorrow, because nothing is prepared'_


	19. Chapter 19

Judith was free on this holiday because she was at a family party.

The weather had changed again and it was hot and it was nice. Maria's heart was beating as she turned towards the lake and saw the crowd of cars.

_,I imagined it exactly like that. Thank God he did not order me in at eleven!'_

The glasses were distributed, probably still from Monday, criss-cross in the snack. It was all greasy and dirty, suggesting that he had had some work after all.

_'Thank goodness there is at least Peter there, then I do not need to clean the outdoor area in the garden'_

 

Her boss greeted her and made a cup of coffee for her as usual.

_'Place the coffee somewhere else, otherwise, it will be gone again'_

She needed some time to clean up the kitchen and then looked at the refrigerators.

_'How can you make so much mess in such a short time? Men!'_

There was neither salad prepared nor vegetables cut ...

In short, it was an impossibility to work that way.

Fast as the wind she prepared the most important things and then at half-past twelve it started.

Within ten minutes she'd stapled 18 different orders to the narrow board on the fridge. And more and more were added. She tried to keep calm, mostly she succeeded. Provided she either had some help, or she had prepared everything as far as possible to make it run smoothly. Neither was the case that day. That was when she fell into a slight panic.

"Peter make a pancake with ice cream."

"There are no more," he said as he opened the fridge.

"They're in the freezer, you have to defrost," Maria said as she ran from one place to another, doing three things at once.

"Where?" He asked, and since Maria had so much time, she brought him the pancakes.

"There are five together. Heat them, so you can take the first one off."

"How?" He asked and Maria groaned, trying to keep her voice under control.

"Put the pile of pancakes in the mic, one minute and then take it down carefully."

Said and done. The minute was over. The pancake was not thawed yet. "It does not work."

_'Damn, do not be stupider than you are with your 60 years! You see, I have no time!'_

"Then warm them longer!"

Eventually, it had worked out and Maria was glad that he had disappeared from her field of vision again.

_'If you had put it out yesterday, we would not have the theater today!'_

 

The orders went on and Maria cursed inside. She cursed so loudly that she was afraid anyone could hear her.

"The chicken cutlet was with fries, not with rice," her boss said, as Mary put it to the window.

"You did not write that," she replied angrily.

"I forgot," he said with a shrug.

_'Of course, that's no problem!'_

"What are you waiting for?" She heard him ask and the guest replied to his food.

"It's coming!" Maria shouted as she darted into the cold room to get the fries.

"If I survive the day today, I'll never talk to you again," she mumbled, slamming the door from the cooling room behind her and telling Peter once more, but reasonably friendly not to put the dirty plates on her work surface.

_'Would be too much to ask if you put the crap right in the machine! I can not believe it!'_

 

The two men chatted and Maria tore herself apart.

"It's so loud here, I did not understand anything," she heard her boss say to a guest.

_'The damned schnitzel does not get flattened by stroking it!'_

"The rice is out!" Maria shouted.

"Then you have to cook a new one," Peter said cheekily, but fell silent soon after, as Maria but also her boss gave him a bitter look.

_'Another stupid message and you have a knife in your back!'_

Had Mary had time yesterday, she could have prepared everything for today. But no. He decided when to work when she did not have to work, when to start and when to stop.

"Are you going to make her a cordon bleu with chicken?" Her boss asked in a sweetish voice, standing with a lady he probably had his eye on because they did not have that on the menu.

"No," Maria replied. "You see what I have to do. Unless she's waiting for me to finish this all."

Normally, she processed the orders one after the other, but of course, there were certain guests who were favored by her boss, not by Maria.

No sooner had Maria worked off three bons, four more came. She was sweating, she was panting, had to do the dishes and the salads, because Peter, the rotten sow, did nothing and her boss said nothing.

 

"Max would rather have parsley potatoes and no baked potato ... Will, you cut me a cake then ... Maria, the gentleman is waiting for his toast ... Can you please fill the whipping bottle?"

She just stood there with the knife in her hand and everything in her head was spinning.

She counted quietly for the third time to five, but even that did not help anymore.

"You probably think you did me a favor by giving me free yesterday. For that, I can tear myself today and it is still not enough.

Judith is not here, Peter is not able to wash the dirty dishes and I have so many orders that the water is up to my neck. There is nothing prepared, and all because I dared to ask on Sunday, after three weeks without a break, if I could have a day off!? Did you do that on purpose? I would like to throw it all down and go!"

Maria's blood boiled and it did not bother her that half the garden had received her outbreak.

She put down the knife because she did not trust her hand.

"So can ..."

"One word," she said, looking at him sharply.

"I do not want to hear a word from you. I'm now trying to process the orders and then we'll see."

She took a few deep breaths and returned to her work.

 

"What about the whipping bottle?" Peter shouted.

"Wash the whipping bottle. Whipped cream is in the fridge. Cartridges are in the drawer and make no mistake, otherwise it explodes," she hissed at him.

Should her boss still allow a misstep, it is only the thought of playing music ... Then that was it.

Then she would go. She had never quit a job on her own. She has never been quit by her employers. In her jobs, she had always agreed with the respective bosses on a 'service resolution by mutual agreement'. But to be honest, to escape from this hell, she also accepted not getting unemployment benefits for a month.

And then everything got much worse ...

 

The next day, Maria was very early again, which should not turn out to be a mistake, she drove into the parking lot and turned off the engine.

Before turning in, she saw Judith cowering in front of the still-closed door, bursting into tears.

"Oh my God, Judith. What happened?"

She ran to her older colleague and almost forgot to lock her car.

"I ... and suddenly," she sobbed and Maria had to calm her down to find out what was going on.

Her daughter had a serious car accident the day before. It did not look good, but by now the doctors had given their best and she was out of danger.

She took Judith firmly in her arms and had tears in her eyes because she was so sorry for Judith. The bad part was that she could not work anymore because she needed to take care of her little grandchildren now.

Meanwhile, her boss had come too.

"There always has to be something," he mumbled, unlocking the snack bar.

That he had apparently slept on some cloud when God distributed 'empathy', Maria knew that. But that he acted so cold pulled goose bumps down her spine.

_'Seriously? What if something happened to you or your mom?'_

He would probably ask Maria to run the snack bar alone.

Yes, it was a fucking situation. Yes, it was busy and every hand was needed. But that ...

"I am so sorry. Everything," Maria whispered, hugging Judith harder.

In the meantime, her boss had phoned Peter, who was free, and as ill luck would have it, he did not have time.

In the past few years, we have already done worse things alone, "said Maria and nodded encouragingly to her colleague. And that was not a lie. There has been a shortage of staff in recent years. And the job had to do Maria, not him.

"I will immediately call my sister's son, who is currently searching. I'm sorry ", she murmured goodbye, exchanged the number with Maria and left.

"And anyway, it's to her credit that she came in person, and did not do it over the phone, or simply did not come any more, just like countless ones did before her," she told him, picking up a pile Menus from the table and went to the garden to prepare everything.

"Yeah, yeah. But always when there is a lot to do."

"She certainly did not choose that!"

Since it was useless anyway to discuss with him, Maria left it at that and did her work. There was a lot to do. She rushed from one end to the other but was glad that Peter was not there to disrupt her routine.

And on such days Maria was proud of herself because she knew what she could accomplish on her own.

 

When she came to the snack the next day, it was empty. She went to the window and looked into the garden. Her boss sat at the table with a strange man.

_'Definitely a representative'_

Short black hair, maybe a few years older than her ... All in all a very attractive man.

"Ah, Maria. Come out, "her boss shouted as he spotted her.

Since there were no guests anyway, she put her cell phone and car keys in the drawer and walked around the house.

"That's ... what was your name?"

"Castiel," he smiled, got up briefly and shook her hand.

"Call me Cas."

"Cas," she repeated, briefly caught in those ocean blue eyes.

She sat down and during the brief conversation it turned out that this was the young man Judith had spoken of. 

Then Peter came too and just sat down.

_'Are you crazy? Open the screens, bring the garden to fruition!'_

"Judith has already told me a lot," he smirked. "We will certainly get along well."

Maria repressed the inner voice that reminded her of the many male 'kitchen helpers' she had come to know over the past few years.

Because most of the time it came down to the fact that she either had to announce every move or had to repeat everything umpteen times so that in the end she preferred to be alone.

 

"Okay. Cas. Where is your name from?"

"Roots there and roots there. But I was born here," he grinned.

As she explained in a few words what awaited him, he listened attentively, nodded from time to time, and kept smiling.

"Is not new to me," he replied with a wave of his hand.

It was the right day to train someone. Not too much and not too little.

"Learning by doing," Maria grinned, and the black-haired nodded, skillfully doing everything his 'boss' told him.

"Is there any work going on behind, or just gossiping?", Her boss asked a little louder than necessary.

_'That's exactly what the right person is talking about. Oh, talk to Peter and leave us alone!'_

 

Cas felt very comfortable in Maria's presence. With her friendly and kind nature, she gradually took his shyness.

"I'm thrilled," she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I swear to you, so far almost no one has managed to cut eight even slices from a tomato."

"You're kidding me," he smirked and Maria shook her head.

"Unfortunately not."

"How long do you actually need me in the evening?"

"You just came," her boss replied and Maria looked at him sharply.

"No," he laughed. "I mean in general because the last bus leaves at 18.30."

"If necessary, Peter drives you home," said the boss and Maria grinned quietly.

_'Or me'_

If it had been the case the day before that Maria wanted to quit, this page had turned again, because working with someone to rely on was fun.

 

"Do I have to be jealous?" Gabe frowned and turned his head to look at his girlfriend in the eye.

In the evening, both were in front of the television and Maria stroked her sweetheart's hair while she told him about her day.

"No. You have no reason to because I know that he is gay."

That was a lie. Maria did not know that, because Cas had not mentioned it directly. But she had a guess. Women felt something like that. She had not questioned him, because the snack bar was just a large room, and even though the areas were separated by refrigerators and work surfaces, her boss could hear almost everything. And since he talked about 'these people' always so derogatory anyway ... That did not have to be.

 

"Cas?"

The black-haired man stood at the freezer and from a distance, he looked into the garden, where a very specific person jumped into his eyes.

He felt his hands start to sweat and hoped that 'this somebody' did not notice that Cas was staring at h He was so caught up in his mind that he did not notice Maria slowly stepping behind him and staring out too.

"If you stare at the smaller one, then we both have a problem," she said.

"What?" He asked, turning around frantically. He blushed as if he had just been caught in a crime.

"I ... um …" he stuttered, wiping his hands on his pants.

No, he had not stared at the smaller, but his attention was on the man with the short, dark blond hair.

"You could go out and pick up the empty plates at the table," Maria grinned.

"No," he mumbled and pulled himself behind the washing-up.

"Go into the garden and clean up the dirty dishes!", She laughed and gave him a pat on the butt. Had she not known that he was swimming for the other team, then she would certainly have pinched that.

 

Cas swallowed, nodded and wiped his hands again.

"Um ... are you done?" He asked, trying not to show his nervousness.

"Yes, thank you. You can take this with you, too," Dean replied dismissively, holding the empty glass in his hand and sinking back into the conversation with the other two.

Cas's heart slipped. Shaking his head, he made his way back to the snack bar. He wondered what he had expected.

Maria realized that he was a bit depressed but did not ask.


	20. Chapter 20

"Say," Maria asked at dinner, poking around in her salad.

"Huh?" Gabe asked, looking up from his plate.

"Dean. I do not know anything about him except that he does not have a girlfriend."

"Wife, man ... Dean takes everything he gets his hands on," the dark blonde giggled.

_'Interesting'_

"But he has not fixed anyone at the moment. Or?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I know someone who kept an eye on him."

Now she had his full attention and told him her thoughts.

"I can ask him."

"Gabriel!"

"In a roundabout way ...", he assured her with a wink and grinned.

 

"I'll be jiggered ..." Maria laughed when on Monday the supplier came with the ice, and a familiar face put the boxes on the floor. "What are you doing here?"

In a nutshell, he explained that there was a hepatitis incident in this company and some people were sick. Her boss watched it with eagle eyes and drove to hurry, because the ice would melt otherwise.

"... and since I am currently on vacation and was working for this company a few years ago, I have agreed to step in."

Gabriel had not talked to him yet, Maria knew that, but he did not have to.

Because something was in the air.

"Maria, make some French fries, please!" her boss shouted.

He could have told Cas. But he did not want her talking to him. But Maria only found that convenient.

"Cas, take the order!"

"Do I have to sort that too?"

"No, that ... I'll do that," the black-haired stammered, giving him a quick look.

Blue hit green and that brief moment was enough to make Cas's hands sweat again. He tore open the box and took out a handful of popsicles to sort.

Maria peeked around and saw that Dean had laid his hand on Cas's small of the back and murmured a 'thank you' before turning and waving goodbye.

"See you on Friday."

This brief gesture triggered palpitations in the older and with somewhat shaky fingers he continued to put away the remaining varieties as well.

_'Damn he has beautiful eyes, and I do not even know what his name'_

He could still feel his hand on his back and wanted more of it.

_'Friday'_

Cas could hardly wait. Should he ask Maria what his name was?

 

With a smile, she watched her colleague, who was somewhat absent-minded throughout the day. At some point he could not stand it anymore.

"What ..."

"Dean," she answered his question with a smile before he had asked.

_'Dean ...'_

 

"Fuck. Traffic jam," Dean muttered, drumming on his wheel.

'Blue eyes ... Baby's got blue eyes ... Like a deep blue sea ... On a blue blue day', Elton John sounded from the radio.

He closed his eyes for a moment and saw them in front of him. He had never seen such blue eyes before.

The he shook his head to dispel those thoughts, because he was completely satisfied with his love life. A short affair here in between, there an exciting one-night stand. He had never had anything serious in his life and could not imagine changing that. The thought of marriage and family sparked more goose bumps in the 40-year-old than a tingling sensation.

"Say, do not you have anything to do?" Dean laughed in the hands-free device when he heard Gabriel's voice.

"You do not seem to have that either," it came back.

"Guess where I was right now."

"No idea, but you'll tell me right away."

After Dean had told him everything, Gabe thought for a moment how he could tackle the subject.

"What do you think of the new guy?"

"How should I think about him?" Came the counter question.

Good that it was not a video transmission, otherwise Dean would have seen Gabriel's annoyed eye rolling.

"He would fit well with the four of us, right?"

"Yeah, I think we could have a beer with him."

_'It's going to be a difficult birth ...'_

Gabriel held his phone to his chest and sighed deeply before holding it to his ear again.

"He would fit you well," he said bluntly, and then there was silence for a moment.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, shaking his head.

"You already know. Do not be more stupid than you are!"

"Naughty little guy!"

"Come on. You two would make a nice couple, "the smaller one poked on.

"I'm not a guy for a relationship!" But the curiosity was stronger then.

"Did ... did Maria say anything?"

"..."

"Gabe?"

"Maybe."

After a few minutes, he heard someone calling in the background.

"Dude, I have to break up."

At pace, Dean drove on and thought. He has not had anything with a man for ages. And to be honest, he was sure Cas was not the type for a one-night stand.

Then the drama that he had often experienced. Because in the end, somebody was always disappointed ... No, he did not really want that at all. He shook his head again and banished his thoughts.

 

"It's not even half past nine and already so incredibly hot," Dean murmured as he packed his clothes for bathing. Since he had nothing to do anyway, he decided to drive to the lake.

At this time was not busy and he decided to run around the lake and then jump into the cool water. Although ... The 'cool wet' had the temperature almost like in a spa due to the constant heat.

 

At the same time, Cas set off, then sat down on a bench and stared at the lake. He enjoyed the silence, the chirping of the birds and the gentle breeze that blew through his hair. He opened his eyes and picked up his notebook.

On the water swam a few ducks and swans, which also enjoyed the peace, before the bathers came back.

'... but the most beautiful jewelry of nature remains the living green ...'

Cas put the pen on the book and stared back down at the water with a sigh.

He saw Dean's eyes in front of him.

_'Like two emeralds'_

 

Slightly out of breath, Dean leaned a hand against a tree and alternately stretched his legs.

As he turned his gaze, he saw a figure sitting on a bench he knew well. Although he was too far away to see what Cas was doing, he took that moment and just stared at him.

 

Cas had his legs crossed, his arms resting on the back of the bench and tilted his head, he looked up into the sky without blinking.

When he closed his eyes, he could feel that brief, warm touch on his back again.

He smiled slightly at the thought that he would see Dean again in two days.

It had been two years since he had a relationship. His then boyfriend moved to another city because of a job. And even though both had vowed not to break contact, sooner or later the daily routine had caught up with each of them, and the occasional meetings became more and more rare until it finally stopped altogether.

This separation had hurt the black-haired a lot and he had not had anything with any other since then.

Not even a kiss. For two years, Cas had not felt another man's lips on his, and when he thought of it, he felt a little prick in his heart.

Even though it did not mean anything to Dean when he had laid his hand briefly on his back, because it was much more that he was glad that he did not have to sort the ice, it meant a lot to Cas. To feel the brief warmth that crawled along his spine. To look into his beautiful eyes for a brief moment and to indulge in his fantasies in the evening.

But Cas did not know anything about Dean. He did not know if he was interested in men. He did not know if a family was waiting for him at home. And he did not want to ask Maria. He did not want her to think he was a stupid teenager in love.

 

_'He has not noticed me yet'_

Dean toyed with the idea of just turning back and running back, but an inner voice told him to get moving and go to the other man.

And that's exactly what his legs did. Somewhat stiff and yet self-evident, he headed for the bench. Cas still had his eyes closed and startled when he heard a voice beside him.

He had just dreamed of him, and suddenly the man of his desire sat beside him.

Cas could not utter a word and felt the heat rise.

"Hey, are you enjoying the calm before the storm?" The dark blonde babbled.

The older man just nodded. Dean had no trouble getting into conversation with other people quickly.

"What are you doing there?"

"I ... nothing," Cas stammered nervously as he frantically slammed the notebook when Dean wanted to take a closer look and stowed it in his pocket.

He just missed that. Unthinkable if Dean read his poems and then laughed at him.

 

"Damn, I have to answer that."

When Dean's cell phone rang, he got up, murmured an apology, and took two steps.

Cas seized the opportunity and fled.

As he walked, he turned around once more and noticed that Dean was watching. But he could not possibly stay with him. A look from him was enough, and not only his heart melted, but his brain as well. His mouth was dry and his lips stuck together as if sealed with glue.

He said nothing to Maria, he felt stupid and so he quietly did his job. But the cook noticed very well that something was occupying him.

Only, she did not want to push him. He sometimes seemed like a startled deer to her anyway.

 

Each of them was looking forward to Friday. Dean had thought a lot, the night before, because somehow he could not sleep.

These blue eyes of Cas followed him and he had to admit they caused a pleasant tingling sensation in his stomach. And not just his eyes. Cas was a damn handsome man.

 

The boss had once again pursued his passion and gone shopping.

But Maria did not think that bad, on the contrary. There was a lot going on, but now she had someone to help her. And anyway, he would only disturb and not understand anyway.

"Is not he there?" Dean asked as he walked in the door and put the boxes on the floor.

"No, you are both alone," she grinned with a wink, took the guests' orders and had to almost push Cas to the freezer, as he did not move from her side.

"You both do that, I'm busy here," she laughed and turned back to the guests.

"Should ... should I help you? It's the last time I'm helping out anyway. From next week, the other driver will take over again."

"I'll do it," Cas stammered embarrassed, and as they reached for the box, their hands touching, their eyes meeting and no one saying a word, Maria shook her head lightly.

 

_'Boy, oh boy ...!'_

"Let him help, that's what he's here for!" She called as she poured the drinks.

"Yeah, that's what I'm here for," Dean grinned mischievously, making Cas smile as well.

A shiver after the other ran through Cas, and that was not due to the cold temperature that prevailed in the freezer.

Again and again they grabbed the ice together, again they looked at each other.

It could not be avoided and Dean squeezed past behind Cas. The passage was just too narrow for two grown men.

A wave of arousal struck Dean as he felt the other's body close to his.

Each of them sensed that moment, but with some people there, and neither of them wanted to give that openness, they were kidding around like little kids.

"Ok, guys. I need Cas here!" Maria shouted and both hurried to come to an end.

_'Is it too rash to ask him for his phone number?'_

The black-haired thought briefly and then took all his courage together.

Even before he had uttered the sentence, Dean had pulled out his business card and pressed it into his hand, enclosed it with his second and with a short wink he said goodbye to the two.

"Okay. Even if your brain is currently only porridge. Concentrate," Maria grinned, showing him the orders.


	21. Chapter 21

 

Two days later, Cas still had not contacted him and Dean was a bit frustrated and disappointed. Just when he began to admit to himself that he felt something for this man, the soap bubble burst.

_'All right, we had a moment. And it was a good moment'_

Dean went to a bar in the evening to get drunk. Not to Gabriel.

He later learned that Cas had caught a virus that had been letting him run back and forth between the toilet and the bed for the past few hours.

 

"One more," he said, holding out the empty glass to the bartender.

Lost in thought, he waved the glass of whiskey between his fingers and thought about Cas, but he did not get far.

"That's exactly what was missing," he murmured annoyed, as two, already pretty drunk bikers sat next to him. One to his left, the other to the right.

"Well, my handsome guy, so alone?"

Dean closed his eyes and turned away in disgust.

"No interest, look for someone else," he hissed, but was grabbed by the bearded man at the back of his neck and pushed back onto the bar stool as he started to get up.

"But hey. Where do you want to go? The evening has just begun ", the other grinned and ordered three more drinks.

Dean sighed, because against two he had no chance anyway and to start a fight, he felt too old and a bit too drunk.

_'I needed that again ...'_

"We just want to have some fun."

His right neighbor flashed his golden tooth and put his hand on Dean's knee and he jumped up startled and shook his head.

"Are you crazy? Find someone else for your fun! "

With the flat of his hand he slammed the money on the counter and saw that he disappeared as fast as possible.

If he had turned around again, he would have seen that the two followed him.

"Wait, my little bird," the bigger of the two purred.

"Oh fuck you!" Dean yelled, but he could not react so fast because the other had grabbed him and pushed against one of the garbage cans.

"I think we'll fuck you," the other laughed and was about to open his pants.

"Let me go, you assholes or you'll be sorry!"

"For this position you're in, you're pretty cocky!"

"Come on guys ..."

Dean tried the gentle route, but the feeling of having lost already did not let him go.

"You're a sweet little fruit," the one who still held him tightly whispered close to Dean's ear, and as he licked his disgusting tongue over Dean’s neck, he thought he had to puke off his guts.

He looked around for help, but there was nobody there. No one except the stinking, sweaty bikers whose breath smelled like a mixture of gin and rotten body parts.

 

"What have we here?"

Laughing dirty, one of the two opened Dean's purse, threw one card at a time on the floor and crushed it with his heavy boots. He did the same with his cell phone.

"Winchester ..." he mumbled suddenly. The money he pocketed, as well as his keys, with the words: "It does not hit a poor soul. But luck does not seem to be on your side today."

"Son of a bitch!" He shouted, and at the same moment he sensed a pain in his stomach, which briefly blew his breath away.

He squirmed, punched, and kicked out, but that only made him take another blow ... and another.

Dean wanted to scream, but one hand pressed roughly and firmly onto his mouth.

_'Damn, not in the face!'_

The next blow hit his temple and another his chin. A thin trickle of blood dripped onto his shirt, through the ruptured lip.

"The more you resist, the worse it gets."

Meanwhile, the bigger of the two had dropped his pants and Dean closed his eyes in disgust.

"On your knees and swallow it! If you bite, you will not survive that."

Did he have any way to escape from this situation? No.

Since Dean, in their opinion, took too long to think, the smaller pushed him roughly forward and pushed him to his knees.

Dean gagged dryly, gasped, almost choking on that monster of cock that dug deep into his throat.

But his tormentors knew no mercy, held his head in position, bellowed and fired at him.

Tears squeezed from Dean's eyes and he drew the air frantically through his nose and blew it out even more hectic. His mouth ached, his throat ached and he almost choked on his own saliva.

"Enough!" The bearded man groaned after a few minutes, which seemed like an eternity to Dean and patted his head. "We do not want to end it so soon."

 

Dean heard and felt his heart beat in his head and in every single pore of his body.

Moments later, he was dragged to his feet again and stopped dead in his tracks.

The shirt had a long tear, dividing it almost in half, the two pants dangling at his ankles and exposing his most intimate. Tears of desperation made their way and made him sob briefly.

"Oh, now the little fag howls like a pussy," they sneered and laughed at him.

"Turn around!" the smaller shouted, who got rid of his pants by now and jerked his penis stiff with one hand.

"No!" Dean shouted back, trying to get out of this situation.

"That was not a request!" the smaller hissed and held a knife to his throat.

Seeing the angry glint in those eyes, Dean decided to endure it like a man.

He closed his eyes and lowered his head humbly.

"Yeah, that's good," the man chuckled behind him, pressing his fingers deep into his hips, so deep that it hurt.

Dean could only guess what was going on behind his back, because he had his eyes closed tight. He only hoped that this martyrdom would come to an end soon.

"Holy shit is that tight. I do not think he can take your fat cock," one said to the other. "But I'll open it up for you."

With these words he pushed hard, moaning and grunting, let Dean feel his stinking breath and his cock, which pushed itself further and further into him without consideration. Dean gasped and clung to the handles of the cold garbage bin, bent like a defenseless doll. In the distance you could hear the cars pass by and only a small light graced the gruesome scene.

Dean was still screaming, sweat dripping from his forehead, a mixture of fear and effort, and he just wished he'd faint. But the universe did not fulfill his wish.

At some point, when Dean thought it could not get any worse, he was wronged. The smaller one had cummed. In him. Dean was so disgusted and whimpering, he writhed in the tight grip of his tormentor. This only caused his hands to be squeezed painfully behind his back and held together.

"Okay, it's your turn," he panted, and let go of him for a moment, allowing Dean to gather briefly before the bearded man positioned himself.

"Please," Dean sobbed, but that only earned him another sneer.

"Take a deep breath, that could hurt now," he laughed.

Without hesitation, he forced his big cock in the aching and painful hole and Dean screamed again.

He screamed his soul out but only a dull murmur came out.

He did not know what was worse. The hand that had pressed so tightly against his mouth that he felt he was slowly suffocating. The feeling of breaking apart at any moment, by the size, length and thickness that was in it. Or the fact that no one came to liberate him from this situation.

 

Despite all efforts to focus on something else, he did not make it and finally gave up the resistance. As if through a fog, he heard the two making fun of him, groaning and wheezing. His body was no longer tense, but collapsed, held only by the four hands.

He was dragged like a lifeless body, just as his rapists wanted it.

Again a raging pain that shook him to the core.

Trembling, whimpering and sobbing, he only noticed the sound of the skin clapping.

His eyes were wide open, staring straight into nowhere. At some point nothing came. No whining, no sobbing. Dean was quiet. Only his breath rattling frantically.

With one last animal grunt, the bigger one thrust deep into him, so deep that Dean thought his entire body would be impaled and he only wanted to die. Then it was over. ,

"That was a great ride, my little one. See you."

With that, both of them left him, but before they left, the smaller one pulled out his knife again and held it to Dean's neck. He dared not swallow, let alone breathe, as he felt the cold metal and the tip of the blade against his skin.

He stared wide-eyed at his tormentor and waited to see what he had to say.

"One word to anyone and we will find you and kill you."

This warning had been sitting. From afar he heard her still laughing a few moments later.

 

Powerless, he sank to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He did not even have enough energy to scream for help or cry.

He had lost track of time and did not know how long he had lain on the ground without moving. His pants still hung around his ankles, it stuck between his legs and he was glad it was dark because he did not want to see that.

As he thought about the past few minutes ... or hours ... he quickly turned his head to one side and vomited. Again and again. So long until nothing came, except bitter bile.

What should he do now? He could not even go to his apartment, or in his car. The keys were gone. He could not identify himself, nor did he have money for a cab. And call someone, that was not synonymous. Not without his cell phone. Dean had nothing left and was worse off than a homeless man. They had taken everything from him, even his dignity.

Never in his life had he felt so helpless and humiliated.

 

Groaning and whimpering in pain with every movement, he pulled up his pants.

Somehow, he managed to get to his feet, but in the next second a stabbing pain shot through him that forced him to his knees again.

Dean could not classify what hurt more, it felt like there was nothing left in his body where it belonged.

After a while, he tried again, leaning against the wall with one hand. So he hobbled along the street. According to the church clock, it was five o'clock in the morning.

The whole city was in bed. There was no one on the road except a man who went for a walk with his dog, but changed the street side.

_'Probably he thinks I'm drunk'_

His legs took him for granted. He knew the area. A few more steps and then around the corner ... Dean stopped in front of the 'Angels' and looked up. What did he expect? Of course, no light burned.

He collapsed on the stone steps, leaned his head against the front door and closed his eyes.

"This place has not even opened yet, and the first alcohol corpses lie around," he suddenly heard two girls giggle and opened his eyes.

He only saw their back view as they walked on quickly.

Dean turned cautiously and looked at his watch. It was just after six in the morning. He had dozed off for a few minutes. Over time, it gradually became light and under moaning he forced himself back on his feet. He saw no other possibility and rang the bell.


	22. Chapter 22

"Damn it. If there are any annoying neighbors again then take a bucket of water with you," Gabe growled and turned to the other side.

"Stay calm here, I'll do it," Maria murmured somewhat sarcastically, kissed him on the temple and put on a T-shirt and sweatpants. "Grumpy."

Maria was awake, she was an early bird anyway and softly closed the door behind her before she went downstairs.

_,At this time? Who could it be?'_

"Yes, I'm coming!" She called as it rang the third time already.

"Great God!", She cried in horror and could still spread her arms in time to catch her exhausted friend before she sank to his knees with him.

"Gabriel!"

 

With the bloodcurdling scream of his sweetheart immediately wide awake, he hurried down the stairs, only in his boxer shorts.

"Dean!"

Together, they managed the powerless body in the restaurant and sat down with him on one of the benches.

Dean cried out because sitting burned like a fire in his entire body.

Maria had tears in her eyes and could not speak. Seeing her friend like that broke her heart.

"What," Gabe asked alarmed and cleared his throat. "What happened?"

"I was attacked and robbed. Everything is gone. Money. Cards. Mobile. Key. I can not even go back to my apartment," he sobbed, and it took some time for him to calm down.

Maria looked him up and down. His shirt was torn. In his face he had two wounds on which dried blood was stuck. He was sweaty and his eyes were swollen. There were new tears all the time. His hands trembled and he moaned suppressed with every movement.

"Should we go to the hospital?" Gabe asked, but Dean shook his head.

"Police? Do you recognize the criminal again? You have to denounce him!" Maria said, squeezing his hand.

"No ... no, it ... um ... it was dark and they wore masks."

"They?"

"They were two. I ... I ... they wore masks," he repeated, but could not meet either of them in the eye and closed his.

He could not tell them the truth. It was too embarrassing. He could not tell them he was raped. He had to deal with that himself.

"Can I ... can I take a shower?"

"Of course! Should I come and help you?" Gabe asked.

"No!" Dean yelled in panic, but calmed down right away. "I mean ... no, all right, I just want to take a shower and then sleep."

"Call, if you need something," Gabriel put a hand on his shoulder and Dean forced a smile and nodded, before he closed the door behind him.

Slowly, with clenched teeth, he undressed, threw his clothes into the washing machine and turned it on. Then he took the first perfume he found and sprayed the whole room.

It stank of sperm and blood. Neither of them was allowed to notice that.

Dean avoided looking in the mirror. He did not want to see himself, was disgusted with himself.

Slowly and carefully, he soaped himself, felt his fingers along his skin. When he looked at the ground he saw blood. Fresh blood. He swallowed in shock.

He clenched his teeth tightly and moved his fingers to his aching butt. The tears shot back into his eyes as he timidly stuck a finger in his hole and as he held it in front of his eyes and saw the blood, he whimpered softly, sank to the ground and buried his head in his hands.

It was one of the most terrible things that could happen to a person. Not only the physical pain, but rather the emotional.

The two had broken him and Dean did not know how to handle this situation.

Various emotions came up in him, but one thing was paramount. Shame. He was so ashamed.

"Dean? Everything okay?"

The worried voice of Maria pierced his ears, and he startled.

"Everything's alright," he managed to say as calmly as possible.

When he had dried himself, he risked a look in the mirror.

Apart from the two wounds on his face, his body seemed almost intact at first sight. Nearly. With a worried look, he gazed down at his hips, which clearly showed the fingerprints on his skin that had drilled deep into his flesh.

 

"Dean, can I come in?" He heard Gabe knock on the door.

In no time, he slammed the towel around his body and opened the door.

"I have a shirt that could fit you. Everything else is too small for you, but I'll get you clothes later, until you can get back to your apartment to get something for you."

Gratefully, Dean smiled at his friend and accepted the white shirt.

With the towel around his waist and his shirt, which also covered his prints, he walked, a bit wide-legged, to the other two, who were now sitting in the kitchen.

"Thanks," he murmured and Maria stood up to embrace him.

"No problem. That's what friends are for. Do you like having breakfast?"

Dean shook his head, because hunger was the last thing he thought about.

"No, I just want to lie down a bit."

Since Gabriel, as well as Maria had to work, Dean had time to rest and pursue his thoughts. He said goodbye to her, but not without first taking the promise not to tell Cas.

 

"Now I've tried to reach Dean three times, but the phone seems to be dead. Did he give me a wrong number? Why does he do something like that? He'll be mad at me for not calling ... Do you think he's mad at me?" The black-haired sighed and threw the phone back in the drawer.

"Huh?" Maria muttered, pretending she did not understand him, just to think of a suitable answer.

"Do you think he's mad at me?" He asked again and Maria shook her head.

"Do not worry. He'll get in touch with you. "

Again and again Maria saw that he was staring at his cell phone with a sigh and she wanted to tell him so much, but she had promised Dean.

 

Dean turned from side to side. Everything hurt and he could not rest. Again and again he dozed off, again and again he woke up.

After looking around the apartment, he finally discovered what he was looking for. Painkillers.

The next problem was that he had to go to toilet.

_'Impossible'_

He tried to distract himself, but at some point the urge was too strong.

Sweatbathed, he had been sitting on the toilet bowl for a few minutes already. The tears ran down his cheeks, because it hurt so much and he whimpered softly to himself.

_'A birth can not be worse'_

Back in bed, he crouched down, put his arms around his body and closed his eyes. Only a soft sob was heard from time to time.

 

Since Gabriel had the morning shift, he was back in the early afternoon in 'Angels'.

Before that he was still shopping and had bought some things for Dean.

"Dean?" He called, knocking on the door, but entered the room at the same moment. It was his room, after all.

Then he threw those clothes on the bed and grinned at him.

"Go on, change. Then you feel like a new person."

_'Yes, I would like that ...'_

"Give me the towel."

The smaller one stopped, made a challenging gesture, but Dean shook his head.

"Do not worry, I will not look anything away," he laughed. "It's not the first time that you're getting naked in front of me. Since when are you shy? You can also show me your chocolate side."

Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows and Dean just laughed.

"Dumbass," he smirked and threw the towel to him, but at the same moment his features froze as Gabriel held up the towel, frowning.

A stupid saying, from whether he had his monthlies, was already on his lips. But he denied it, because this was about something else.

He was neither blind nor stupid and the position of the spot indicated from which body opening the blood came.

"Dean?" He asked seriously, looking at his younger friend intently.

 

Dean swallowed and lowered his eyes. He shook his head and swallowed hard again, fearing Gabriel would have heard it.

His heart suddenly began to race at a dangerous pace as his friend sat down on the bed waiting for an answer.

It took a long time in which the two men just looked at each other wordlessly. Dean turned white when he finally began to stammer.

"I ... it was not just a heist," he finally broke out and began to cry again. Gabriel was his best friend and deserved the truth.

"Dean ..."

It was awful and incredible what had happened to his friend.

In peace, without interrupting him, the elder listened to the story, sighed when he had finished.

Finding the right words for such a situation was impossible.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled and took him in a tight hug.

"Gabe, please promise me that you do not say a word to anybody. Not to Maria and not to Jody and certainly not to Cas. I do not want that, please ... please promise me that," he sobbed.

Gabriel was shocked. Never in his ten years of friendship had he seen the dark blond so desperate.

"Calm down, I promise you." Only now did the smaller one notice the fingerprints that graced Dean's skin, and as he pictured the torment of the dark blonde, an icy chill ran down his spine.

"You should at least put on a pair of pants if we hug each other," Gabe muttered, making Dean laugh again.

 

For the next two days, the two men tried to restore Dean's life.

He was getting better day by day, only at night ...

At night, the dreams came, and bathed in sweat he woke up, only to fall back into a restless sleep.

 

"Dean?"

Maria turned on the light in the living room and sat down next to him on the couch.

"You screamed. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. And I'm sorry I woke you, "he muttered, avoiding looking at her.

He was sorry, and he felt bad because he did not tell her the truth.

"Cas asks for you all the time. He's worried. He thinks you are avoiding him.

I'm supposed to tell you, even if you're on vacation with your sister, you could at least get in touch. And if I have to lie to you already ..."

She did not get any further because Dean sat up with a sigh and nodded.

"I know. It's just ... I can not be with him, as much as I would like to ... I ..."

Maria put a hand on his thighs and when Dean flinched startled, she looked at him in surprise. Every touch, even though he knew it was from his friends, his friends whom he could trust, and who meant well, evoked memories of that awful night.

And that's why it was impossible for him to get started, let alone get intimate with him, even if he craved Cas so much. Better an end with terror, than a terror without end.

Maria sensed that he wanted to get rid of something but could not overcome it. With great empathy, she tried to make Dean open to her.

"Dean, please talk to me. I see it in your eyes that something is wrong. I just want to help you."

Dean took a deep breath, folding his hands and gathering his courage.

 

"In this night ..."

He told her everything and in the end apologized that he had not said it earlier.

"We'll fix it, together, I promise you," she whispered as she hugged him and gently stroked his hair.

"Please tell Cas ..."

"How about I bring him tomorrow, we have a nice evening, only four of us."

Dean shrugged, not sure if that was such a good idea.

"Maybe he does not want anymore," the dark blonde sighed.

"I think he wants," she smirked, kissing his forehead and getting up. "Try a little more sleep. See you tomorrow."

With these words she put out the light and went back to the bedroom.

 

"He told you?" Gabriel murmured as Maria lay down next to him.

"You knew about it?"

"Yes," he replied meekly and Maria nodded. "Dean has asked me to keep his secret."

"Alright."

Of course, Maria was a little bit disappointed, but first Gabriel showed her that she could count on him and secondly, they could now all look to the future together and work to make everything just the way it was.


	23. Chapter 23

"Honestly, how do you stand that? Oh God, you have to be ashamed of him," Cas whispered as he stood with Maria while washing dishes and watched from a safe distance another outbreak of her boss.

"I could tell you stories ..."

"... and I wish you to dive in and never show up!" He yelled at the five divers who drank their beer at a distance of ten meters.

"It's good that there are always new guests, because unlike last year, I miss a lot," she sighed as she cleared away the clean plates.

"Someone would have to tell him that he can not act like he owns half the lake. Nobody is obliged to buy something here, or is that written somewhere?"

"Maybe it's me, on my last day," Maria grinned.

"You want to quit? When?"

Cas frowned, because if Maria was not, then he could not imagine working here.

"At the latest in a month. End of the season. You will then also, to put it mildly, be 'disposed of'. Because in winter it is closed here, and the restaurant he does alone with his mother.

First, then not many people come by and second, he has to save money. Since the staff costs so much in the summer, "she chuckled and made quotes in the air.

"That's nice prospects. Finding a suitable job is not easy," he mumbled.

 

In the evening, she then took him home, as promised.

"And that's really yours?" He marveled in the 'Angels' and looked around enthusiastically.

"Yes and that of my partner."

"Then I can start with you, right?"

"Cas ... I would immediately engage you with open arms, but I think that's not a good idea right now. We have to get everything rolling first and you would certainly demand money every month. I do not know yet if we can afford it. But I promise you, "she said, taking his hands in hers," you are the very first one we will hire. "

_'Ok, you're right'_

If Cas did not have to pay the apartment, he would work for free. That was immediately clear to him as he walked through all the rooms. The small restaurant he had already closed in his heart and in his mind he already saw himself working here. But everything in his time.

"Fine, let's go up one floor," she grinned and took his hand.

"Are you nervous?" Gabe grinned, pouring the peanuts into a bowl and giving Dean a sidelong glance.

"Like on my first date," he laughed sheepishly, trying to cover his uncertainty.

Cas did not know he was there, but thought he was on vacation with his sister.

Dean felt terribly guilty and feared that the black-haired would turn and leave immediately.

He took a deep breath, stroked his sweaty hands on his pants and looked expectantly to the door when he heard Maria and Cas coming.

 

Astonished and confused, he stopped at the door when he saw the dark blond.

Slowly Dean approached him.

"Damn, what happened to you?" Cas asked in alarm.

"Just a pub brawl. You should see the others, "Dean giggled nervously, but then sighed when Cas did not laugh.

"Listen ... Cas, I'm sorry. There was a minor incident and I lost my phone. I do not want to, so ... Please do not think the worst of me because I did not report to you, it went stupid and ... it ... I'm really sorry. Let's start over."

The older was speechless at first when he saw Dean. Then he was worried that he saw him in that condition. And then he was glad that he got another chance and did not have to think too long.

"Sure," he replied shyly and held out his hand. "Cas."

Dean dropped a stone from his heart and he smiled and grabbed his hand.

 

It came later, the four talked well and Maria was glad that Dean was distracted for a few hours, even though she saw that the smile was mostly fake.

"Come on, I have something to show you," Gabriel said suddenly and she could not react so fast, so he took her by the hand and together they ran down the stairs.

"Do you think that's a good idea to leave them alone?"

"It's a good idea to leave us both alone," he smirked, biting her gently in the neck.

"What are you doing?" Maria chuckled as she sat down on one of the tables and Gabriel stood between her legs.

"It's dark, we're alone, what do you think?"

And then everything went very fast. The door was torn open and her colleague ran disturbed to the other door, threw it behind him into the lock and disappeared into the darkness.

"Cas ?!" Maria called in surprise, but he could not hear that anymore.

 

The black-haired stumbled onto the street, tears in his eyes.

He called a cab and then sat down on the sidewalk, his head buried in his hands. He thought about what he had done wrong.

At the same time, Maria closed the door and hurried back to the apartment with Gabriel. There they found Dean, crouching on the ground and covered in tears.

"What happened?" Maria called and sat next to him. She took her friend in her arms and stroked his back.

_'I'm such an idiot'_

Everything had started so well. The two men sat side by side on the couch, flirting, getting closer. Their hands touched, they looked at each other in love. A shy kiss followed. And another one. The trigger for the outbreak was when Cas ran his tongue along Dean's neck.

Maybe it was the fact that pictures of the night suddenly came up in him. His heart started racing and he panicked.

Somewhat roughly, he pushed Cas away from him and yelled at him that he did not want that and that he should disappear.

"I messed up," he mumbled in a strangling voice.

"Maybe it was too early," Gabriel sighed and sat down on the floor as well.


	24. Chapter 24

"Cas?"

"I do not want to talk about it," he grumbled as he cut the carrots into small pieces. So fast that Maria was afraid he would hurt himself at any moment.

He pushed Maria out of the way and put the water on the stove.

"I do not want to talk about it," he emphasized once again as his colleague looked at him invitingly.

 

"And you're sure you can handle it on your own?"

Dean let Gabriel enter his apartment and closed the door behind him.

"Yes, do not worry," he replied with a small smile.

"I'm very worried about you. Our door is always open for you. Dean, I mean it the way I say it."

After Gabriel had stayed with him a bit and made his way back to work with mixed feelings, Dean sat down with a groan on the couch.

He was grateful that everything healed so well, without permanent damage. But sitting was still a pain.

Although he would not admit it, but he was glad that in a few days his holiday was over, because this silence and the loneliness drove him crazy.

He squeezed the buttons on the remote and tried to distract himself. But as soon as he closed his eyes, the pictures were back. His fear, the fun the two had with him.

After a few moments, he got on the treadmill and ran. Slowly, then faster and faster until he collapsed with exhaustion.

Then he sat down on the floor in the shower, legs on, head on his knees, and let the warm water run down his body.

He longed for someone to take him in his arms, for love and security. He longed for Cas.

 

Not far from his apartment, Cas sat at his desk. In front of him were tons of crumpled paper and he also tore the sheet he had just written a few lines on and threw it into a corner.

He could not think of anything meaningful to write about, for his thoughts were with Dean.

Something was wrong. Although he did not know Dean so well, but well enough that he had felt the fake smile and insecurity.

Not the uncertainty one had when one was with someone for the first time and getting closer. That was different.

When he pushed him away, he could see the fear and panic in Dean's eyes.

_'What of?'_

He had met Dean as a funny, open-hearted person, and on the evening two days ago, it was just faked. There was nothing left of the person he had fallen in love with. But he wanted to have that person back.

_'What's wrong with you, Dean?'_

 

With a sigh, he turned the small piece of paper in his hand with Cas's phone number, which Maria had given him. He fought with himself.

"He can not say more than, no. Then at least I have certainty," he mumbled in a low voice and dialed his number. But a second later he threw the phone on the table. The doubts came up.

"Fuck Dean. You're an asshole, do not be a coward too!"

"Yes, hello?" He heard the voice he desired so much at the other end of the line when he dialed again

"Cas. It's me, Dean."

"..."

"Cas listen. I know it's not done with an apology, but I'm asking you. It ... it was not your fault. I was an asshole."

"..."

"..."

"Dean. It's fine."

"No it is not. Please come to me."

He gave him the address and Cas hung up without giving him an answer.

 

Cas sat down and stared at his cell phone. The desperation in Dean's voice caused him to shower, get dressed, and leave his apartment.

Half an hour later, he rang the doorbell door.

Dean had almost resigned himself to the idea that his friend would come.

"Come on, let's go for a coffee. Neutral ground. I think the last time was a mistake."

Sighing, Dean nodded, because he had the feeling that it was all over. He had screwed up and Cas was no longer interested in him.

It was a nice afternoon. With funny conversations, with all sorts of anecdotes from their life. They got on splendidly, like good friends. Friends, without body contact.

Dean considered when they were together in front of his apartment, if he should still invite him in, but decided against it, because a little pride was still left to him and he had the feeling that he would have otherwise come over like a begging dog.

So they both said goodbye with a friendly hug and went their own way.

Neither of them turned around, otherwise they would have noticed the wistful look in each other's eyes.

So it went two more times and even if it hurt to be unable to touch, both enjoyed the proximity to each other.

 

"And you really are one of the angels in 'Angels'?" Cas laughed and Dean nodded mischievously.

They were back in front of his apartment, but there was something different that day.

Each of them felt it. Neither of them dared to take the first step. Blue hit green and the air crackled until Dean finally took heart and cleared his throat.

"Do you ... do you still want to come with me?" He asked shyly and Cas nodded silently.

"And you live here alone?"

It was the apartment of his parents who had emigrated. But, never look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

"Yes I know. It's a bit big for one person."

"Big?" Cas chuckled as he ran his hand along the white leather couch and looked at him.

"Do you want a tour?"

Dean's parents had their own company, in which he also worked.

It was about houses ... brokers.

And it went well. Even very. And so he had not hesitated for a moment to help Maria and Gabriel and invest in the 'Angels'.

He was not a person who used his wealth, or threw the money out the window with both hands, because he owed most of it to his parents. You could say he was born with a golden ass. He was favored by fortune.

Cas could not stop being amazed. The luxurious apartment even had a large Jacuzzi.

"Are you celebrating many parties here?" The black-haired asked with a wink, but was glad and relieved at the answer he received.

"Honestly? No. I can count my friends on one hand. Most people only see the money I have. Appearances are deceptive, it is unfortunately so ", he sighed and sat down on the couch. It was true. Dean had quickly learned to distinguish friends and friends.

He was also often exploited and therefore grown.

He was no longer a teenager who saw everything through rose-colored glasses. Despite the wealth, he had stayed on the ground and led, apart from his apartment, a rather modest life.

 

And that was exactly what impressed Cas, and he sat down next to him with a smile, resting his head on the backrest and staring at the ceiling, which was decorated with plaster structures.

Heart pounding, Dean watched him from the side. The bright blue eyes, the winning smile with the bright white teeth, the black hair that stood out a bit untidily from his head. The Adam's apple, which bounced like a rubber ball every time it swallowed.

His gentle hands, folded on his lap, that he wished him to touch. And his body that he would like to see more than the over-sized clothes he wore.

Full of desire, he bit his lower lip.

 

Cas felt his eyes and a heat spread in his body before turning his head to the side and looking deep into his eyes.

"Um ... do you want to have a drink?" Dean asked and stood up suddenly.

"No," he replied, holding him by the hand before putting him back on the couch next to him. His voice was rough and deep and he still held Dean's hand.

As if through an invisible magnet, their faces came closer until the forehead of the two met. Dean closed his eyes and dared not breathe.

"Kiss me, Dean," Cas breathed and when the dark blonde opened his eyes he was trapped in this deep sea.

He moistened his lips and laid them very gently on his friend's, closed his eyes again and licked his tongue tip over the other lower lip.

With a barely perceptible, contented buzzing Cas opened his mouth and Dean could not suppress a low moan as their tongues touched.

_'Oh God'_

For two years he had been waiting for this moment and every second of it had been worth it.

Unconsciously he squeezed Dean's hand, which he still held and the other had to smile slightly. His other hand moved to Dean's face, resting on his cheek.

The next moment he felt a loving, tender hand caressing his neck.

Carefully, the two teased each other, letting their tongues dance together until no one could stand it any longer and their mouths pressed tightly together, the tongues intertwined and each fought for supremacy.

"Air!" Dean gasped and moved away a few inches.

 

Grinning, they both looked at each other and Cas was sure he looked the same.

Cheeks red, eyes glassy, pupils huge, completely flustered.

Again and again both closed their lips, could not get enough of each other. A cheeky hand stole under Dean's shirt and stroked his chest. He allowed it, it felt great.

He got bolder, pulled the shirt off Cas, briefly admired his flawless upper body, bit his lower lip again with desire.

They were close, but not close enough for Cas. He wanted to feel Dean. Skin to skin, touching, smelling and tasting it.

"Dean," he whispered, but it sounded like a plea and Dean had to smile again.

"Come here," he mumbled between hot kisses and pulled him into his lap.

Cas was heavy, heavier than he had thought, but this body so close to his, aroused him even more.

Quick as lightning, he stripped off his shirt, put his hands on Cas's bottom and pulled him closer.

As their erections touched, Cas gasped for a moment as the feeling that ran through his veins made him tremble with desire. Dean felt his chest burn when he felt Cas's hot hands.

"I want to count and kiss every one of your freckles," the older one whispered, licking his lips.

"Then do not talk so much and start," Dean replied cheekily, pulling him into another kiss.

His senses faded. Hot bodies moving together, sending a wave of arousal from the ends of the hair to the toes.

 

Not five minutes later, Cas sat on the ground, rubbing his aching elbow he had fallen on.

_'Why does it always end with you pushing me away when we get close?'_

"Damn, it ... I'm sorry ... I," he stammered, startled by himself.

"Dean ... Did I do something wrong?"

Cas stared at him in horror, got up and sat on the couch.

His heart was still pounding with desire and lust, now it knocked with uncertainty.

Dean shook his head and clasped his hands in front of his face. He wanted it, but he could not. Again and again he lived through this nightmare and he had the feeling never to lead a normal life again.

"Dean," Cas whispered, but he jerked back, not allowing the reassuring gesture as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Go please ... I'm not good for you and pull you down too ... I do not deserve you," he sobbed and though he did not want that, he could not help himself.

 

Cas was confused, startled and no longer understood the world.

What was wrong with his friend? Why was he so changed? He had learned to know and love him differently.

No. He would not go.

"Dean ..."

"Leave me alone, I'm poison to you. I'm broken, I'm not worth anything anymore! "

When he heard him speak that way when he saw him, disintegrated and completely devastated, his heart leapt. Cas pulled his hands away from his face, forcing him to look at him.

 

Dean struggled, not wanting the black-haired  to see him like that, but the black-haired man did not let go. He took Dean into a tight hug, letting the younger calm down.

And that took a long time. At first he struggled, trembling all over. He drummed on his chest, sobbed, screamed and cried and only slowly calmed down. Cas had lost track of time as he held Dean in his arms, shaken by a weeping spasm. Neither of them said a word and eventually Dean fell asleep on his shoulder from exhaustion.

Again and again Cas stroked through his hair, distributed small kisses on his head and forehead, thought. Thinking about how he could help him.

At some point Dean opened his eyes again and this situation was terribly embarrassing.

"Cas," he murmured and cleared his throat. "I'm okay. You can go if you want. "

"And if I do not want to?" The black-haired asked, holding his hands tightly with his own. On the one hand, he had made the decision to help him, no matter what. On the other hand, he had a queasy feeling if Dean rejected him.

"I am fine."

"You are a bad liar. But I'll tell you something now."

Dean swallowed and a shaky sigh broke his lungs.

He would understand if Cas would not want to know more about him. It would be another blow in his life, but he would understand.

Cas turned, lifting Dean's chin so he could not keep out of his gaze, and looked him straight in the eye.

"I do not know what happened recently. If it's because I did not contact you, it ... I felt really bad, I'm sorry."

Dean shook his head, but Cas continued.

"It hurts in my soul to see you so desperate. Please tell me what's going on."

The dark blond shook his head again.

"It's so terrible, I can not tell you that."

He sobbed briefly again.

"Dean. Nothing can be so terrible that you can not tell me. You can trust me, you know that, right? " Dean nodded hesitantly, and had to smile at the next question.

"You did not kill anyone?! Dean, I will not go because I am falling in love with you and all I ask of you is that you are honest with me."

His voice was gentle, loving and Dean felt safe, secure. But he could not reveal that secret to him.

He put his head on Cas's lap to stop looking at him. It hurt him that he was causing him such grief.

Slowly he closed his eyes, enjoyed it as he stroked his back, took a deep breath and opened his mouth, but then closed it again.

"I'm sorry, I can not."

Then he sat up and without saying a word he went to his bedroom and slammed the door shut behind him. No longer worried that Cas was left alone and confused now.

He could not take it anymore and threw himself crying on the bed. There was no way he wanted to be a burden to him and was sure Cas would be better without him.

God, he was selfish and he knew it too. But he did not care.

 

The blue-eyed did not want to push him, but he did not want anything between them.

Part of him said he should go home, but the bigger part wanted him at least to stay near Dean. And so he made himself comfortable on the couch and stared at the ceiling.


	25. Chapter 25

Cas had not slept well. He lay awake on the couch for hours, wondering what he had done to make him run like this. What was so terrible that he could not tell him. Why did not he want to be helped?

He was not mad at him, not at all.

The older sat up slowly but painfully and reached for his phone before checking the time, sighing to himself, wondering why Dean had not come yet. He groaned and rubbed his fingers against his temples as he heard heavy footsteps approaching.

"Are you still there? Stand up."

Cas frowned, got up slowly and was immediately taken into Dean's arms.

"I'm sorry I acted that way. It was rude and stupid of me. Do not speak. Let me just tell you what I should have told you already. "

The younger man took a deep breath before taking Cas's face in his hands.

"You are the most precious thing that ever happened to me. I am infinitely grateful for all the wonderful things we have both experienced."

 

At that moment, Cas cursed everything there was to curse because he was late and had to go to work.

"Dean, let's talk about it tonight, will you?"

The younger man nodded and handed him the apartment key.

"Just in case I do not hear you ring the bell," he smiled, kissing his cheek before saying goodbye.

The younger nodded and handed him the apartment key.

"Just in case I'm not there yet," he smirked before saying goodbye to him with a kiss on the cheek.

 

"Mr. Winchester, here's the file you requested," his secretary smiled and handed it to him.

With a wink, she disappeared again and closed the door.

Bored, he leafed through the pages, but could not concentrate.

After the vacation, he probably should have worked eagerly, but from what he had experienced, that was impossible. And then it was Cas.

The man who had totally turned his head. The man he had twice repulsed, and who was still with him. He owed Cas the truth. Only then did they both have a chance to start over.

Since he had no more desire, and he could afford as a boss, he drove home earlier.

It was already dawning, and he did not know where it was coming from, but suddenly he felt uncomfortable as he walked the rest of the way. Frantically, he looked around, because he felt persecuted.

It was not the first time, which is why he had preferred not to leave his apartment in the past few days, because every time he left the house, he felt that the men were waiting for him to fulfill their threat do.

"Damn shit," he mumbled and closed the door behind him with a pounding heart.

Self-pity, the word did not exist in his vocabulary until a few days ago. He did not want to be a victim.

Breathing deeply, he sat down at the table, drumming nervously with his fingers on the tabletop.

As he looked around, his eyes remained on the minibar. So he got up and poured himself a glass, drank it out in one gulp. Another followed and then another.

The heat of the alcohol flowed through his veins and then everything went very fast.

First of all, it was the desk's turn, where Dean swept everything down with his hand in no time. He gave his printer a kick, tore the curtain from one of the windows and emptied the next glass of whiskey.

When he had calmed down, he went to the bathroom to splash some cold water over his hands and his face. When he straightened up and saw a man in the mirror he almost did not recognize, he slammed his fist.

"Seven years of bad luck," he murmured sarcastically, watching the shards fall into the sink.

 

"Dean?"

A voice pulled him out of his rigidity.

Cas was horrified when he came to the apartment. It looked like someone had broken in and the he was on alert. He threw the keys on the table and searched for his friend.

"Dean damn, where are you?" Cas  shouted.

"Bathroom," the monotone answer came.

"Great God!"

Dean was still standing at the sink, blood dripping from his hand. Maybe it was the effect of the alcohol that made him feel no pain.

With nimble grips he had wrapped a towel around his injured hand and put his arm around Dean's waist, went with him into the living room and together they sat down on the couch.

After finding out from Dean where he had hidden the first-aid kit, he removed the towel.

"What happened?"

"Could not stand my reflection anymore," the younger grinned crookedly, but Cas felt anything but laughing.

He did not even flinch as Cas pulled a splinter out of his hand and disinfected it with the burning liquid before bandaging the injury.

"Thank you, my angel," smiled the darkblode and put his head to Cas's shoulder.

"Dean! You scared me to death. What was going on?"

"Nothing," he replied, trying to kiss him.

Cas shook his head and turned away.

"Do not you want to kiss anymore?"

He pouted and instead sent his hands on the move.

"Dean …"

He was drunk, he was in need of love and he wanted Cas right now. Naked and lying down.

"Dean!"

The older took his hands and held them tight. Of course he wanted Dean. But not like this.

"You'll take a shower now, then you'll drink a liter of coffee and then we'll talk."

"Only if you come with me," Dean whispered and leaned back to him, giving him a dog-look.

"You stink like half a liquor store. Come on now."

 

The two stumbled into the bathroom, Dean was supported, and the older one was not sure if Dean could do it without hurting himself. He could barely stand upright.

Unlike him, the dark blonde had already begun to pull the T-shirt over his head, though with some difficulty, and was fumbling with his pants while Cas held him by the hips. Giggling, he struggled and had managed almost without help to stand naked in front of Cas.

"Say, you do not want to undress, your clothes will get wet otherwise," he slurred, leaning against the wall to avoid falling over and looking at him with a challenging wink.

Cas blushed, trying not to stare at Dean, because he liked what he saw a lot.

"Come on honey, do not play coy."

Well, to be honest, Cas had thought it different, but Dean could not do it without help.

Hesitantly, he undressed, not daring to look at the other, who was watching him eagerly.

"Very sexy," he suddenly heard a voice behind him and strong hands clenched his body. These hands cheekily touched his most intimate parts and Cas struggled to keep him at bay.

When they finally got in the shower, Cas turned the water a little colder and grinned as Dean squealed.

He did not want to take advantage of this situation, but he enjoyed it, as he lathered Dean from top to bottom, saw his glazed look, felt the soft, but also solid and muscular skin under his fingers and made Dean moan.

He wanted to tell his friend how attractive he was, but he was afraid that in the state he was in, it meant nothing to him.

 

Dean closed his eyes, but immediately opened them again, because everything was spinning.

His hands lay on Cas's shoulders and he purred softly as he felt the soft hands on his skin that made him feel comfortable.

Under other circumstances, he might also have become stiff, like ...

"Hmm ... what do we have there?"

Naughty he put his fingers around the erection of his friend and licked his lips.

Although he did not understand why his hand was cut off, he had no time to think about it when he felt the cold water on his skin again.

"Cas!" He screamed and gasped.

"You have to go through this now," the black-haired grinned.

 

Fifteen minutes later, both sat at the table. Meanwhile, Dean had the third cup of coffee and gradually became sober again. The two sat in silence next to each other, Dean's casual mouth was frozen. He remembered his impossible behavior very well and he was incredibly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, eyes down, his lips clinging to the cup.

"Alright Dean. What happened. What's wrong with you?"

Dean knew he owed him answers, but he did not know how to tackle the subject.

He rested his elbows on the table, folded his hands, and took a deep breath. His eyes were fixed on the wall and he did not even blink, while he talked about everything that weighed on him.

When he had finished, Dean was surprised at himself that he was in such good control.

In contrast to Cas, who had tears in his eyes and an unpleasant goose bumps had formed on his body.

"I do not know what to say ..."

He moved close to him and stroked his back. Dean turned, fleeing into his arms and then began to cry uncontrollably. He had never seen the green-eyed so fragile, so vulnerable, and his heart ached.

"What can I do?" The older man whispered.

Dean shook his head and pressed against him again, clinging to him like a drowning man.

"Just hold me tight."

"Dean," he whispered, running his fingers over his cheek as he leaned into the touch and closed his eyes. "You have to report the two."

"No! I ... they wore masks."

"Did not you say they talked to you in the bar?" Cas wondered and could feel Dean's swallowing.

"I can not do that, they would kill me! I just want to forget. Please help me to forget ..."

Both sat motionless for a few minutes before Cas pressed a kiss on his hair and sighed.

"No matter how you decide, I'm with you. You do not have to go there alone. "

Dean nodded and wiped the tears from his face.

"Sure. I'll be fine, do not worry."

The smile he gave him was honest. A huge load had just fallen from his shoulders when he had shed his heart and he was able to breathe freely again.


	26. Chapter 26

The next morning, Cas smirked, as he looked at his friend, who was still in the position he had fallen asleep the night before.

Quietly he got out of bed and opened the balcony door, got out barefoot and took a deep breath.

Deep in thought, about what his friend had entrusted to him yesterday, he did not hear Dean slip in from behind. Only when he felt his hands around his stomach and a short kiss on his shoulder blade, he awoke from his rigidity.

"Thanks, Cas," Dean whispered, pressing against him.

Slowly he turned and put his hand on the younger's cheek.

"Not for this."

Dean put his hands around the black-haired's neck and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Let's go back in," Dean smirked.

"Hmm ..."

Cas looked at the watch and sighed.

"Still time for a small breakfast?"

With these words he pulled Cas by the hand, threw him on the bed and knelt over him.

"I have to go to work," he murmured between kisses, turning with him and biting his shoulder lightly before getting up and dressing.

 

"Tell me, my girl," an older woman smiled, grabbing Maria's hand as she cleared the empty glass. "Is this nice, handsome, young man your boyfriend?"

"No, that honor belongs to another," the redhead smiled back. "But he's a very good friend."

She looked through the open window at the snack bar, where Cas was about to make an iced coffee and waved briefly to her colleague.

"With your charm, you twist all the old ladies' heads, are you aware of that?" She laughed as she put the glass into the dishwasher.

The older smiled a little tormented and sighed softly.

"He told you, did not he?"

Cas nodded and frowned at her.

"What should I do now? How should I deal with this?"

"We just have to be there for him. You have to be there for him."

Cas nodded again as he cut the peppers.

"The first step is made because he has opened to you, everything else will be back in time. I promise you." With a reassuring pat on the back, Maria returned to her work.

 

Since Dean was a failure, and could not cook, came, as usual, the delivery service.

As he set the food on the table, a thought occurred to him.

Since Cas was always with him anyway ...

_'Is it too early to suggest that? We have only known each other for three weeks ...'_

But Dean felt lonely in the big apartment and he had become so used to Cas that he missed him every minute he was not with him.

But he delayed the thought because at first a much more important thing was to be tackled.

Sex. That is, the two had sex. Dean was not a bad lover, at least he'd always heard that, but he knew it was not his best performance.

In fact, it was more the case that he felt guilty. Because when he looked at the older, he had the feeling that it was increasingly difficult for him and he did not want to lose him. It was great, no question. It was tender and loving, but neither could really let go, out of fear of hurting the other. What was a total nonsense.

Every time Cas wanted to go further, Dean panicked. And that's why it should end this evening. He finally wanted to get rid of his fear and for that, he could not imagine a more in-depth, loving and understanding partner than Cas.

When Dean saw his friend come in at the door and greet him with a stormy kiss, he had made a decision.

As both stood in the shower, feeling the warm rays of the water and the tender touch of each other on their skin, Dean took the hands of the black-haired in his, put it on his butt and looked deep into his eyes.

He was never a man of words and preferred to speak the deeds.

When he saw the big question mark in Cas' eyes, he rolled his eyes and had to grin slightly.

 

His heart pounded in his head as Dean leaned closer and whispered in his ear the words he'd been waiting for so long.

Until now this zone was always taboo and subconsciously he had to hit his hand more than once to respect that.

"You ... are you sure? You do not have to do that, Dean," he stammered, feeling he blush a little. Of course, he wished for more and of course he once wanted to take over the command. But for Dean, he banished those thoughts deep in the back of his mind because he did not want to push his friend into anything under any circumstances.

But deep inside he longed for it and he swore that it should be an unforgettable experience for both.

"I want it, Cas," the dark blonde breathed on the other's lips. "Everything that belongs to."

"Oh, Dean," the elder whispered, gripping the firm flesh under his fingers, squeezing him close to his body, and both men groaned as they rubbed their pelvis together.

 

It would have been a lie if Cas claimed that he was not nervous. And so did Dean when he was lying on the bed, watching his friend expectantly, kneeling beside him.

As if it was the most precious thing in his life, whatever it was, the older man almost devoutly wandered his gaze.

"You're damn sexy," he whispered, chuckling as Dean blushed and cocked his head to one side.

"Can you finally kiss me now?" He mumbled, leaning on his elbows and pulling him towards him to escape this embarrassing situation.

Shaking, he breathed in as Cas's lips parted and the journey began.

The men he had slept with could be counted on one hand and until then it was only once that he had made his legs wide for another.

It was so long ago that he could not remember it. But if it had been fun, he would probably have done it more often. Or?

And then the terrible experience that he had three weeks ago.

Dean closed his eyes and tried to hide those thoughts. Because it was only about him and Cas. The man he loved. The man who was so tender, slow and careful that it almost hurt. The man whose lips and tongue he felt on his heated skin and yet caused goosebumps that reached to the tips of his toes.

Dean's throat released a long moan as he felt Cas sucking marks on his neck, moving lower and lower, biting gently into his nipples and licking as an excuse.

His body writhed with excitement and all he wanted was ...

_'More'_

"Tell me, if I should stop," the older whispered and looked firmly into the green eyes of the man below him, which were widening with pleasure, pursuing every movement.

Dean considered telling him that he should just fuck him because those feelings that flared up in his body almost drove him to the edge of his self-control.

However, he bit it down when he looked into the sea-blue eyes, full of love, warmth, and care.

 

As he kept getting Dean hotter, he kept eye contact with the younger one. He wanted to see every emotion, he wanted to feel any discomfort, but it did not exist.

He was so beautiful. He was not a handsome man on the outside, because the side he showed, the openness he gave Cas made him sigh contentedly and happily. Because nobody else was allowed to see him like that. Panting and begging for more.

It was he who caused these feelings in him, the reason why Dean forgot to breathe sometimes. It was he who made these noises that hit straight into his cock.

"Cas," he breathed, burying his hand in his hair, feeling his racing heartbeat in every pore of his body.

"Hm?"

With a loud smacking he released the fleshy penis from his warm mouth, licking his lips with a grin and looking at him.

"Nothing," he groaned, dropping his head back into the pillow.

"I want you to turn around," he finally heard him whisper.

Dean took a deep breath and rolled onto his stomach and a few moments later he felt the weight on his back and Cas whispering.

"Let me know if it's too fast. We will not do anything you do not want."

He nodded hesitantly, gave him the silent promise and closed his eyes.

Warm hands caressing his back, a wet tongue running down his spine, lips leaving tender kisses and gentle bites on his skin.

Dean relaxed more and more. Until the time when Cas's hands came to rest on his ass.

 

Cas sensed immediately as he tensed.

"Trust me, Dean."

_'Of course, I trust you. But can someone tell my brain?!'_

Again and again, he felt brisk fingers, which pressed tenderly but with slight pressure between his ass cheeks. Dean's chest rose and fell frantically. For one thing, because he was a little scared, but for the most part, it felt so incredibly good.

"Lift your pelvis."

Dean responded to the request and immediately felt a pillow that raised his butt.

The deep, sexy voice of Cas, which reassured him, and the inquisitive tongue he felt everywhere on his body made him defenseless, and his breathing calmed.

 

Cas had never done it but wanted to give it a try, though he was worried that maybe he was going too far. But he took the risk because his friend's pleasant lolling obscured his senses and made him so hard, as never before in his life.

Fascinated, he looked at this gorgeous ass, which cheeks he pulled apart and squeezed again, revealing the little secret in between, which twitched excitedly.

Dean still had his eyes closed and was not prepared for it.

"Fuck!"

He wanted to say something, but his voice failed as a hot flash of lightning flashed through his body that took his breath away. He had never felt anything like it and had trouble keeping his trembling body exactly where it was. Because for nothing in the world he wanted from where he was only an inch away.

Eyes wide and his head turned to one side, he glanced at Cas, whose head had disappeared between his legs and who, with his quick tongue, spoiled him where he needed it so much.

With a smirk, he glanced at Dean, who was desperately trying to get as much linen between his fingers as possible.

When he stopped short, he heard a soft begging from the younger and that was exactly what he wanted. The click of the tube with the lube made him a bit nervous.

"Everything okay?"

Dean nodded and swallowed, eyes tight.

"Turn around. I want to see you."

Dean readily spread his legs and nodded to him with a hunger in his eyes.

After a few minutes he started to sweat. Again and again, he groaned and with quivering lips, he urged Cas to continue.

"You taste so good," the black-haired whispered in a hoarse voice and as Dean turned his eyes down and saw him slowly raising his head, a saliva thread mixed with his pre-cum hung from his mouth, he had the feeling, never to have seen something more erotic in his life.

He was so caught up in his feelings that he barely noticed that Cas had already buried his second finger in him.

The next finger and Dean twitched a bit. Immediately his friend stopped, waiting for Dean to signal him to keep going.

 

When he saw his fingers slide in and out, again and again, Cas could barely control himself

His cock dripped uninterruptedly, angry red and almost painfully hard, demanding friction and attention. But he had to suppress that feeling because it was all about Dean. It was about taking away his fear and liberating him from the terrible experiences, giving him a wonderful experience.

"Cas! I'm ready. I want to feel you. Now!"

As if the dark blonde had read his mind because if he did not get fucked right away, he would lose his mind. That was certain.

Shortly thereafter, he almost regretted his thoughts as he felt himself being stretched more and more.

Dean gasped, seeking Cas's hand and squeezing.

"Holy shit!"

Although it demanded everything from the black-haired, he paused, again and again, feeling that he already lost a few drops of semen on the way to his destination.

Sweat drained his body from the effort of restraining himself.

 

"Dean?!"

Startled, Cas stared at the tears that came out of Dean's eyes. His heart stopped briefly, but when he tried to retire, Dean grabbed his hand and shook his head.

The water that came out of his eyes had nothing to do with pain or agony.

He was happy. Happy to have found someone who understood him. Happy that someone had given him back what he thought he had lost. The belief in love. The sensations and feelings, and that he could experience pleasure again.

When Dean came, he closed his eyes and let himself drift. Sometimes he let out a particularly loud groan and then squeezed his mouth close to everything that was close enough. Cas's neck, shoulder or his own hand. He just breathed against it and seeing Dean let go, without really being loud, made shiver flow over Cas's back.

He had wrapped his arms and legs as close as possible around his friend, to feel him deeper, to be one. There was no distance between their skins.

He looked so vulnerable and lost that Cas could not help himself and covered Dean's face with soothing kisses.

"I got you, baby, got you."

Cas tried to hold himself back, but he almost lost the fight as everything tightened around his cock. Dean grabbed his neck, pulled him over for another kiss when he saw that Cas was standing on the drain. Their mouths were open, they did not touch. Everyone breathed in the hot breathing of the other, the moan that nestled deep in the bowels.

"Dean …"

Dean chuckled and looked into the pleading eyes of his friend, who asked to be released from that bittersweet torment. Again and again, Dean teased playfully until the other could not stand it anymore and almost crushed their mouths together. The rough kiss was all he needed to get off.

"I love you."

Dean had no idea if Cas had understood those words in his emotional rush.

It was not important either. It was important that he feels comfortable with him.

Puffed-out, happy and content, Dean lay on Cas's chest, arms resting like wings protectively around the younger's body, the messy bed sheet only partially covering their sweaty bodies.

"I love you too, Dean," Cas whispered, and the sound of his deep, reassuring voice made him fall into a peaceful sleep.


	27. Chapter 27

The days passed. The weeks passed. Maria and Cas did not have to quit. Because of the 'end of the season' this was settled by mutual agreement.

Maria had not told her boss her opinion either. For what? It would not change anything anyway. But she had a little satisfaction, for she let him believe that she would work for him again the following summer.

"He's going to be extremely annoyed," Gabriel laughed and held his glass of champagne in the middle, whereupon the five angels clinked their glasses.

"We also have something to announce."

Dean cleared his throat and squeezed Cas's hand, who then gave him a smile that made the butterflies in his stomach flutter again.

"Cas moves to me. The apartment is too big for me and well ..."

 

Maria wandered nervously around the apartment, sat down, got up, and finally picked up her cell phone.

"Can I finally come out now?"

"Wait another ten minutes, Honey!" Gabe laughed and hung up.

He had talked about surprise.

With a tingling sensation in her stomach, she grabbed her winter jacket and boots and closed the door behind her before she ran down the stairs, stormed through the bar, and tore the door open.

A few steps away, the other four stood looking down the wall.

To find out what they were staring at, she turned to them and the goose bumps she got on her body did not come from the cold.

Maria was speechless. A large, green billboard was installed above the entrance. 'Angels - Bar and Restaurant', stood there in big golden letters and beside it hung a fluffy pair of angel wings.

"Well, what do you say?" Gabriel smiled and pressed a kiss on her cheek.

"It is unique."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him briefly, but intimately, under the applause of their friends.

Suddenly some motorcycles howled from a distance and Dean was frozen.

"Every goddamn time," he sighed as Cas stroked his back reassuringly.

"Let's go in, we'll freeze our butts here."

With a welcoming gesture, Jody opened and waved everyone through the door.

 

"This city has a real problem," Gabriel muttered behind the newspaper.

"Why?"

"Well, this biker gang has broken in again."

"And? Did they get caught?" Maria asked, biting off a piece of her croissant.

"Negative. Grab some, others come. Where did they come from?"

Shaking his head, he folded the newspaper and put it on the table.

"But now for something more enjoyable. New location. Only two days."

That not only Maria was incredibly nervous because of the opening, was obvious.

 

And then it was time. The restaurant was well visited and the five had their hands full.

"We should get roller skates, then we'll be faster," Jody giggled, taking the tray with the drinks from the counter.

"So by now your ex-boss knows you will not start with him again."

Gabriel laughed and greeted a former regular guest of Maria, who worked for a newspaper and had promised to write an article.

"And. How does it look, my financial genius? "

After everyone had left, Gabriel sat at the desk at the accounting.

"That was a very successful day," he replied contentedly, closing his eyes with a moan as Maria stood behind him and massaged his shoulders.

"Then we can start a successful night now," she whispered at his ear, kissing his jaw.

"Oh, yes?" He grinned, pulling Maria onto his lap with a sweep, causing her to squeal.

"I love you."

Carefully she took off his glasses and put them on the table, stroking his hair and tracing his lips with her tongue.

"I love you too, honey."

After they had gone to their apartment, undressed and just wanted to close their eyes after the tiring day, both had fallen asleep.

 

When Maria woke up and turned to the side to cuddle with the man she loved so much, she reached into the void. When she called for him, she also got no answer. So she went down to the restaurant to prepare everything for the day.

Half an hour later she heard the front door fall into the lock.

"Honey," a voice suddenly gasped behind her. Gabriel was jogging. He did that to stay in shape and to protect his lady.

Naughty he grabbed her butt and kissed her neck.

His hands wandered over her body and he tugged at her T-shirt.

"Gabe-Babe. I will not do anything to you if you're so sweaty. Go take a shower and then we'll see."

"If you keep me company, then I could multitask. You know. Cleansing my body while I give you the love you deserve, "he grinned and Maria growled at the answer and kissed the tip of his nose.

"Go now," she laughed and put the water for the noodles on the stove.

He knew exactly how he had to do it so that Mary could not resist.

Humming, he set off, taking off his jacket, shirt, and pants.

_'If somebody comes to meet me in the staircase, then I have to come up with something'_

Maria chuckled and shook her head as she left and locked the door again.

 

"Hey honey."

She did not see Gabriel, who was already in the shower, but she knew he was grinning.

"Hey Gabe."

In no time, she undressed, pushed the curtain aside and was lovingly greeted by her boyfriend, in whose crotch it began to grow every second.

"I'll make you feel good," he whispered, before kissing her again, pulling at her hips as she buried her hands in his hair.

She loved him because he was a gentleman on the one hand and so dominant on the other. Normally, Maria did not want sex in the shower because it was just too tiring and she was afraid to slip.

But Gabriel had her firmly in his grip and his strength impressed her every time.

He could not wait anymore and he did not want to wait anymore. He just had to look at this woman and he got horny.

"Gabe", Maria moaned at his neck, as he met again and again her lust point, until she saw the stars and let her orgasm run wild.

After she caught herself, she dropped to her knees, looked at him, and the way she lasciviously licked her lips turned him on even more than he already was. She grabbed his hard cock, just waiting for her to take care of.

Gabriel was not the type to beg for it, but Maria had her methods and was always a bit proud of herself if she succeeded.

With a freed smile on his face, he pulled her to his warm chest, caressed her back and felt the warm jets of water splashing on his skin. Her ear was pressed against his chest and heard the rapid heartbeat and her hand lightly scratched the spot under his navel, which elicited him another comforting groan.

With a wink and a smile, he kissed her again before turning off the water.

 

The black-haired had kept his silent promise and worked for Maria and Gabriel. At first free, because he could afford that with the support of his boyfriend.

And the two of them were glad he was there, because the initial worry that it would take some time to get everything started had vanished.

"Can I really leave you two chaotic boys alone?" Maria grinned, picked up her handbag and kissed Gabriel on the cheek.

"Sure, go at last," her sweetheart replied with a wave of his hand.

In order to educate herself, Maria had booked a course that took place on two afternoons.

As she drove past a gas station, she noticed that the price of fuel was extremely cheap. "Shit," she groaned as she looked at her watch. If she had not been late, that would have been a good opportunity. She decided to do it on the way back.

 

"We could play darts."

The last guests had left, but it was still too early to close.

"Do you want to mess with the champion?"

Gabriel laughed and let his fingers crack. Then he picked up the arrows and handed Cas three of them.

It was not long before they got company.

"Well, here we come just right," a bear of a man roared and tore the arrows from Gabe's hand.

"One beer for me and my buddies", another shouted, sat down and put his feet on the table.

"That's not true now ..." Gabe groaned and went behind the counter.

It was not hard to see that these men were part of the biker gang that had been causing trouble in the city for weeks.

"Oops ..."

The flower pot that was just standing at the table began to shake and broke on the floor.

All three laughed and Gabriel saw red.

"There is nothing left for you here. Get lost! You are not welcome here!"

"Otherwise, what happens?"

He could not react so fast and the giant had grabbed him by the collar.

The dartboard had become uninteresting because the next arrow hit one of the bottles, which also crashed to the ground.

"Seen? Who can imitate this? "

Another arrow. This time it stuck in a picture that Maria had painted.

"Get the fuck out of here, or I call the police," Cas hissed and already had his cell phone on his ear.

"We'll do it. But we'll be back. Finally, it says on the board at the entrance, 'Everyone is welcome'"

Laughing and bellowing, the three stumbled out the door and Cas breathed through.

"Delete that from the board, because not everyone is welcome here."

As he picked up the pieces, he glanced sideways at Cas. And if the situation were not so serious, he would have laughed.

"And not a word to Maria."

 

"What? Are you kidding me? It was only four hours ago ..."

Murmuring, Maria looked at the display board, because the price had changed again. But it did not help, because the fuel gauge in the car was already on.

"Great."

While she was refueling, some men came on their motorcycles and made their rounds. She hated that sound. It was loud and it stank too.

Skeptically she watched the five who honked, roared, screamed and laughed.

Quickly she broke off, locked the fuel cap and looked to pay as quickly as possible and disappear. When she took out her bills, she heard in the background how a shelf was overturned.

"Damn gang," the cashier groaned.

Maria's heart beat to her throat as she passed the men.

"Well my sweetie, want some fun?" She heard but she did not turn around, but almost ran to her car and only exhaled again when the engine whirred.

"Was something special?"

"No. With you?"

"No."

 

Like almost every morning, Gabriel was jogging and stopped when he saw Lucifer sweeping up pieces of glass in front of his tobacconist.

Maria and he had organized a barbecue a few days ago, to which the two had invited the neighborhood to get to know each other better.

"Damn dirty bastards. This is the second time this month!"

"Did they break in?"

"No. Nothing was stolen," the older man sighed and sat down on the steps. "But it's enough if someone keeps rioting. Assholes!"

 

"I'm with Donna for a minute, we need copy paper!"

Gabriel nodded absently and raised his hand as Maria went out the door to go into the shop, which was a few blocks away.

Donna had a small shop selling everything from coffee to wool. When she opened the door, a man nearly knocked her over. He wore a suit, some rings, and looked like a mafia boss.

"What's a licked guy doing in your junk-shop?" Maria laughed and looked around.

She did not spot the blond-haired woman and shouted a few times.

When she heard a sob coming out of the little office, she hurried there quickly.

"My God, Donna. What happened?"

She knelt down and took the broken woman in her arms.

"I have to sell ... can not afford anymore. My mother ... bills ... doctor's visits," she whimpered and Maria frowned because it was all clear as mud.

Sighing, she looked at the clock. She had to return to her course.

"We still talk about it. I'm sorry, but I have to go."

 

"Do you think they will come again?"

Cas held the glass he had just polished against the light and put it away.

"There you can bet your ass on it", Gabe groaned and leafed through the newspaper.

"Good evening gentlemen."

Startled, Gabriel turned around and eyed up the man standing in front of him.

He wondered how much gel was in his hair, because that was almost dripping on his suit.

_'Holy shit'_

Golden cufflinks and shoes in which one could reflect. Either a rich snot or an impostor.

"I do not want to beat around the bush. Sit down with me. I think we have something to discuss."

_'I can not imagine'_

Cas glanced skeptically at Gabe, but since the smaller one was curious, he shrugged and the three sat down at one of the tables.

"I heard you had a few ... how should I put it ... unwanted guests."

"How does he know that?" Cas whispered behind his hand.

"Something like that gets around quickly," the man replied with a fake smile. "But no fear. I can help you with that. "

"Oh yes?"

Gabriel was skeptical and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Let's say ... for 250 a month."

"What?" Gabe replied, snorting sarcastically.

"I will keep these people away from you. Of course, this service is not free."

"We should pay protection money?"

Cas shot him a horrified look and shook his head.

"You can forget that, we can manage alone. Now get out of here!"

Gabriel got up, pointed to the door and shook his head again behind the counter.

"You have three days for the first installment. We'll meet again."

With these words, the man in the suit disappeared into the darkness and left the two stunned.

"And what are we going to do now?" Cas asked, concern written in his face.

"We do not do anything except our work. You do not think that I let myself be blackmailed ?!"

With these words he patted Cas on the shoulder and nodded to the table, where four guests had taken their seats.

No one knew at this time what collusive game was waiting for them.


	28. Chapter 28

Like almost every day Maria was shopping in the early morning. For one thing, because she loved the peace, and secondly because she liked to buy fresh goods, but for the most part, perhaps because Gabriel did not like it, and in any case had little idea of food.

She had to smile at the thought. But he had other strengths. For example, the bookkeeping, with which Maria did not like to deal. The two were a great team that complemented each other wonderfully.

And with Cas they had already pulled the big deal anyway. Not only had he become a valuable friend, but he helped wherever he was needed.

"When will you tell Maria?"

With a sigh he showed his boss what he had just found in front of the entrance of the restaurant.

The angel wings that hovered over the front door until recently were torn off and scribbled in red on it, 'The countdown has begun'

"Not at all, they just want to intimidate us."

"And if we pay?"

"If we pay now, that's the beginning of the end. There is more and more and then we will never let go. Tell me, are not you watching TV?"

He gave himself casually, shrugged his shoulders and stowed the wings in a garbage bag, which of course he immediately discarded.

"The President also does not engage in negotiations with terrorists."

"Did not the guy say he made friends with the police and did something like that a lot?"

"We do not need a police. You are a scaredy cat."

"Can not you just admit that you're scared, too?"

"No," Gabriel replied, sticking out his tongue and going into the kitchen. Cas followed him.

But inside it was boiling. What did these idiots ever conceive? They thought they could terrorize the whole city. Besides, the threat of making his restaurant a meeting place worried him more.

_'We will then rename the place in 'angel of death''_

These words echoed in his head again and again.

_'Not with me'_

"We need a plan," he muttered as he put the bottles in the showcases.

"Plan? They neither negotiate nor are we up to them!"

"Did you tell Dean about last night?"

"No," Cas answered meekly, sighing, he turned the glass of Coke in his hand. "But he realized something was wrong. He freaks out immediately if I just take the word 'motorcycle' in my mouth."

 

"Chuck?"

Gabriel drummed his fingers on the table and looked at the man sitting on the bar stool in front of him.

"Yes, give me one more," he replied with a sigh and handed him the empty bottle.

"Where are you with your thoughts?"

"Some idiots sprinkled the windows of my gas station tonight."

"Some idiots?", Gabriel asked, but knew exactly who he meant.

When Chuck had told him the message they had left, he shook his head in disbelief.

"You are not a Jew!"

"My grandfather was one. You can not escape the image," he grinned tormented.

Suddenly a scream.

 

Maria was about to cut the plums for her cake when something flew to the window.

She opened it, looked out and screamed. Not only was it terrible that she held a dead bird in her hands, the horror was written in her face as she read the message the bird had in its beak.

'Get ready'. Written with blood.

"Honey ?!"

Gabriel, Cas and also Chuck stormed into the kitchen.

"What does that mean?" She asked her boyfriend, who only shrugged his shoulders and acted as if he knew nothing.

"Someone probably allowed a joke."

Cas started to say something, but Gabriel gave him a sharp look that immediately made him close his mouth.

And so the subject was done for the day.

Chuck had the feeling that the 'Angels' was in trouble too, but he said nothing, drank up and went home.

 

"You do not believe what I just saw."

With a loud bang, the door slammed shut and Cas flinched, almost spitting out his cereal again.

"Dean!"

The dark blonde sat down at the table and had to catch his breath for a moment.

"You know the scarecrow in front of Lu's shop?"

"That's art," the older laughed and shook his head in amusement.

"Whatever. It burnt. Full of flames."

"Did something happen to him?" Cas asked horrified.

"Burned to the tiptoe."

Dean imitated an explosion, whereupon Cas rolled his eyes.

"I meant Lucifer!"

"No. But he was pretty shocked. First with his window and then that ..."

"Dean ..."

"Yes my angel?"

He moved closer to him, put his hand on Cas's thigh and kissed his lips.

"Dean, I have something to tell you."

The black-haired took away his hand and stood up, took a deep breath and looked down at him. He hesitated because he did not know how to tackle the subject.

In the beginning, Dean still smiled, but when he looked into the grave face of his friend, he frowned and when he had told him everything, he jumped as if stung by the tarantula.

"Damn Cas. When did you want to tell me that? Did you even want to tell me? Does this nightmare never stop ?! "

"Where do you want to go?"

Head over heels, Dean pulled himself up and opened the door.

"In the 'Angels'!"

"Wait for me."

 

When they arrived at the bar, they saw Gabriel standing in front of his car.

"Gabe!"

Dean stormed toward him, barely keeping him from blurring important tracks. Literally.

It had snowed in the night and something was written on the windshield in the snow with red paint.

'Time is running out...' Gabriel just stood there and shrugged.

"We need to talk!"

"Maria does not know about it."

"Then it's time she finds out."

Dean was upset and shoved him.

"Dean. We wanted to keep you out of it, because ... you know. We did not want to evoke memories and ..."

Slightly contrite, the smaller one stood there, his hands buried in his coat pockets, and looked down at the ground.

"I know that, but ... damn, we're partners. We have to decide something like that together!"

The younger one was not angry, but disappointed that he was not informed. And a small part of him was also grateful that the two wanted to take care of him.

But this was no fun. He had read some things in the paper and heard more about it from different people.

"Hey, good that you let yourself be seen again," Maria smiled and fell around Dean's neck.

After the four had sat down at the table and laid out the cards, Maria stood up, without saying a word. Moments later, after taking a deep breath and bringing something to drink, she looked one at a time.

"We have to inform the police."

"No police. This paint monkey has warned us urgently. Otherwise everything will only get worse."

Gabriel looked at Maria and took her hands in his. She hesitantly nodded.

"Should not we call Jody?" Cas asked.

"She is coming back the day after tomorrow, we should better leave her alone, she certainly has other concerns with her sick mother," Maria replied and everyone nodded.

"We would need something like a civil defense group. I saw it on TV."

"You watch too much TV," Cas laughed, but after a moment's reflection, it was all a good idea.

"Well, we know three people who feel the same way. Let's invite them to a meeting."

 

Nobody thought it was going so fast. Everyone hoped that they had some time left ...

Fate had planned it differently.

It was just after 3pm when all seven gathered at the round table.

Although a handful of guests sat in the restaurant, but these were supplied.

Everyone was in the midst of a discussion to decide what to do next, when suddenly the door was torn open and this man in a suit came to their table.

"All familiar faces," he grinned, taking a chair and just sitting down. "Good day, ladies and gentlemen. May I ask how you have decided? "

"You can leave right away, because you will not get a dime from us," Gabriel hissed and immediately felt a hand on his neck.

"Think about it again you gnome, otherwise you'll regret it."

_'We're seven ... well, six. Dean is at the toilet. We could tie you up and trap you in the cold room'_

He swallowed hard and cleared his throat a few times when he was released.

The man nodded, turned to one side and whistled with two fingers.

 

The door was knocked open so that the window rattled and within a few seconds ten bikers stood in the restaurant. Maria was so frozen that she forgot to breathe for a moment.

"Get out of here," the bearded man said to the remaining guests, who rushed out the door in no time.

"Great. At least you could have let me cash in on that," Gabriel mumbled and immediately felt a kick from his girlfriend, who called him to rest.

"You're a funny guy. But the laughter will pass you by."

In one fell swoop everyone realized that this was a well-arranged game, because the suit carrier was just as much a part of the biker gang.

Here a table was overturned, there flew a vase on the ground and went to break. The men served themselves at the bar and shot the darts through the restaurant. It was a nightmare.

"Larry," the bearded leader shouted, whistling, gesturing for him to look around.

 _'Dean'_ That was all Maria could think.

 

Dean had heard the turmoil in the restaurant and peered cautiously through the window.

He already had his cell phone in his hand to call the police when he froze to death.

Suddenly all the images of that terrible night that he never wanted to be reminded of came into his mind as he saw the bearded man in the leather as his tormentor. Cold sweat stood on his forehead and he dropped his cell phone in horror.

Of course, this noise caught attention and he could not react so quickly, when he was pulled out, dragged through half the restaurant and came to a halt on his knees in front of the men.

The leader bowed his head and seemed to think for a moment when he finally started talking with a mocking grin.

"Winchester ... that's a nice surprise. The best fuck of my life. And now that you kneel again in front of me awakens memories."

The men roared and laughed and Dean, if he could have, wanted to vanish in the air. This humiliation. This shame. Not only did he kneel down on the ground like a trodden dog and the tears welled up in his eyes, it was the fact that everyone knew it now.

He had not told anyone who had raped him. Not even Cas knew it.

Instinctively, he got up, wanted to help his friend.

"Are you his lover?" He sneered and pushed him back to his seat. "He screamed when I rode him like a young mare and moaned like a whore when I injected my juice deep inside him. Does he do that to you too?"

Cas's lips were shaking with rage and his hands were clenched into fists, while Chuck and Gabriel held him back so as not to do anything ill-considered.

 

"I'll explain how this will work out now."

The greasy man in the suit sat down, crossed his legs and smiled.

"We will take whatever we want. Either that, or we'll tear your restaurant to pieces. If you do not pay in the future, then it will always be like this. And you three ..."

He took turns looking at Lucifer, Chuck and Donna and paused.

"Watch and learn."

"But I always pay," Donna sobbed, burying her head in her hands.

"Apparently not enough," one of the men laughed.

 

"You," the bearded man said, pointing to Maria. "Come along."

"No!" Gabriel cried horrified, jumped up and stood in front of his sweetheart.

The slap in the face forced him back on the bench. He stood up again, again he took a punch in the stomach.

"Stop!"

She asked the men to stop, then kissed Gabriel on the forehead and looked into his eyes, a hand on his cheek.

"It's Ok. Nothing happens to me. I love you."

"Come, sweetheart. You show me everything now. I do not want to mess things up," he chuckled.

Maria's heart raced as the man reached out to her like a gentleman.

 

As Jody got off the train, it was already dawning. She packed her bags and walked quickly into the warm hall.

Smiling, she reached for her cell phone and dialed Maria's number. But then frowned when nobody answered. Jody also tried Gabriel and then Cas. Nothing. Just now she was in a good mood, because her mother was on the way to recovery, when she got over the next moment an uneasy feeling. As if something was wrong.

"Stop here, I walk the few steps," she told the driver of the cab.

She had thought for a moment about driving home, but decided to check the 'Angels' to see if everything was alright.

From a distance, she heard glasses break and a volume she was not used to.

She put her suitcase down near the entrance and slipped to one of the windows where the curtain was not quite closed.

Although Jody was not there for a few days, she was still up to date and it was not long before she realized it was not a celebration.

Gabriel, Cas, Donna, Chuck and Lucifer were sitting at the table, Dean was kneeling on the floor, all held by men in leather clothes. And Maria? She could not discover her.

Jody backed away and stood against the wall, taking a deep breath and wondering what to do.

The first step was to get her cell phone out of her bag and call the police. The second step was to slip through the back door and break into the apartment of the two. No, she did not break in there. She had the key. For emergency. And that was clearly an emergency.

Unerringly, she grabbed the object of desire and slipped down the stairwell.

She took another deep breath as she stood at the door and opened carefully.

Through this back entrance you got past the toilets and almost opposite was the entrance to the kitchen. She heard the men bellow, but she could not see them because this area was a little further away.

 

"How about we both have some fun?" She suddenly heard someone say in the kitchen.

Carefully, so as not to be detected, she leaned a little further forward and saw Maria standing at the work surface. She struggled with her hands and feet, which only incited the man even more. He had already put his hand between her legs and Jody did not hesitate, tore open the door and struck.

Both women looked at each other for a moment before their frightened eyes turned to the ground, where a man was lying who was no longer moving.

Jody dropped the baseball bat and both knelt down.

"Is he ... dead?" Maria asked while Jody felt the pulse.

She shook her head and they both breathed lightly. Maria raised her head when she heard sirens.

"Heaven has sent you," Maria smiled and fell around her neck.

"The cops, let's go!" They heard some shouting and as they looked out the door, they saw how the bikers stormed headlong out of the door.

Two were caught, the others escaped. But the most important of the gang, Jody had knocked out.

"This is Dean's rapist," she murmured to her friend when the police took him away.

"You're kidding me," she whispered horrified.

 

When everyone had calmed down and sat at the table, patting the heroine of the day on the back and all but two policemen had gone, Gabriel asked:

"What's next?"

"We need more evidence. Statements of victims ... witnesses. Without it, it will be difficult to keep the gang for a long time."

 

When the policeman had said that, Dean knew he had to act. Because otherwise he saw no way that this nightmare would stop.

And now not only he was affected by it, but all he liked.

It had started with him, it would end with him. He nodded to Cas, who squeezed his hand encouragingly. Nobody should live in fear anymore.

He was not alone and it would be a long hard road, but together they would do anything, he was sure of that.


End file.
